BEYOND THE "BOMBER"

to conduct a campaign on the order of a Desert Storm operation at longer distances and in a higher threat
environment relying on LRSS alone. Furthermore, our National Military Strategy calls for the need to
be able to operate in multiple contingencies simultaneously. These might not necessarily be at the same
intensity as depicted in the example above. Nonetheless, when one considers the additional demands of
maintaining the presence around the world during peacetime, then one must also consider the numbers
to assure a sufficient rotational base to sustain that requirement. This example illustrated the demands of
conducting a major regional contingency at a long distance and against advanced threats. A forthcoming
Mitchell Institute monograph will address the issue of the appropriate numbers of LRSS aircraft to meet
the needs of the current National Security Strategy.
In summary, a large payload is needed:
• To provide a deep magazine for persistence at long range in an A2/AD environment;
• To increase the capacity of the Air Force to deliver a mix of munitions (including heavy
munitions) at long range, especially in the A2/AD environment;
• To fight at long range with a cost-effective number of aircraft; and
• To permit the destruction of hardened and deeply buried targets.
High Survivability
Survivability is the product of an aircraft’s signature (to radars and other sensors), tactics (such as penetration
routes and deception), and electronic countermeasures. The Air Force has determined that stealth is a critical
element in survivability. The purpose of stealth (or “low-observable”) technology is to increase an aircraft’s
survivability by reducing the enemy’s ability to detect, track, and attack it. Stealth is the combination of
aircraft shape, design features—such as hidden engine inlets and exhausts—and the use of special radarabsorbent
materials and techniques. Stealth seeks to reduce not just the radar cross section of the aircraft,
but also the aircraft’s signature in the infrared, acoustic, and visual spectrums. Stealth decreases the need
for large packages of support aircraft and enables the aircraft to operate relatively autonomously in highly
defended airspace. Stealth, used in combination with intelligent tactics and electronic countermeasures,
increases an aircraft’s survivability and offensive potential. Stealth is not a stand-alone “solution,” but rather
one element of a variety of tactics and technologies that increases air vehicle survivability. 76
Air defenses must perform several functions effectively to destroy enemy aircraft. In the surveillance stage,
low-frequency radars search the surrounding airspace to detect and classify aircraft. If an enemy intruder
is detected, then high-frequency fire control radars guide a weapon to the vicinity of the target. Then the
76 Rebecca Grant, The Radar Game (Arlington, VA: IRIS Research, 1998) is a good overview of stealth.
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