"Conducted under the auspices of Project Air Force's Strategy and Doctrine Program"--P. iv.

Includes bibliographical references.

This report focuses on means of improving airpower's capabilities in the context of joint operations in future major regional conflicts. The authors examine future U.S. national military strategy and a range of potential military threats to U.S. interests. Using a number of scenarios, they simulated the deployment and use of a joint U.S./allied force to estimate the time required to achieve operational objectives. This allowed them to compare various operational strategies and modernization programs in terms of their impact on U.S. ability to achieve these objectives. They concluded that airpower's ability to contribute to the joint battle has increased. Not only can modern airpower arrive quickly where needed, it has become far more lethal in conventional operations. Equipped with advanced munitions either in service or about to become operational, and directed by modern C3I systems, airpower has the potential to destroy enemy ground forces either on the move or in defensive positions at a high rate, while concurrently destroying vital elements of the enemy's warfighting infrastructure. To exploit airpower's potential, the United States needs to focus on selective modernization. Among those items needed are advanced munitions, additional long-range fighters capable of carrying heavy payloads, and a rapidly deployable theater C3I system.

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