U.S. Air Power Is Formidable and Improving

A-10 or AV-8B Harrier aircraft were used during the Gulf War, but today
A-10 pilots can use night vision goggles, and the night attack AV-8B is
equipped with a navigation forward-looking infrared pod, and its pilots are
equipped with night vision goggles. The number of night-capable
helicopters has grown by more than 500 as more Apaches and Kiowa
Warriors have entered the Army fleet and more AH-1W Cobra helicopters
have entered the Marine Corps fleet. The change in night fighting
capability since 1991 for selected aircraft types is shown in figure 2.4.

Today, more than 600 F-15Es and F-16s can use all or part of LANTIRN for night fighting. The Air Force plans to equip 250 F-16s with cockpit changes that will enable their pilots to use night vision goggles to complement the LANTIRN capability. Inventories of night-capable F/A-18 aircraft have grown

2Night-capable AV-8B aircraft were in the inventory at the time of the Gulf War. However, since pilots had not been trained in the use of the system, no night-capable AV-8Bs were used in the war.

U.S. Air Power Is Formidable and Improving

by more than 350 from 1991 to 1996, as DOD invested hundreds of millions
of dollars in forward-looking infrared pods. More than 250 A-10 attack
aircraft have been equipped for night operations. Although about 355
night-capable Navy A-6 and Air Force F-111F aircraft will be gone from the
inventory by the end of fiscal year 1996, overall, DOD increased the number
of night-capable combat aircraft by over 900. Beginning in 1996, many
Navy F-14 aircraft started receiving LANTIRN and night vision cockpit
modifications.

Self-Defense Capabilities of Combat Aircraft Are Being Improved

More Combat Aircraft Can
Use Advanced Munitions

To enhance the survivability of attack aircraft, the services are equipping
them with new self-protection jammers, upgraded radar warning receivers,
and increased expendable countermeasures. In past work, we have noted
performance problems with many of these systems. In addition, the Air
Force is currently adding towed decoys to further enhance the
survivability of its F-16s. Also, the Marine Corps plans to (1) add a missile
warning system to its AV-8B and AH-1W aircraft to alert aircraft crews of a
missile attack and (2) install the combined interrogator transponder on its
F-18C/D aircraft to enable crews to identify other aircraft beyond visual
range as either friendly or hostile. This identification capability is expected
to reduce the incidence of fratricide. During the Gulf War, only the Air
Force F-15 had this capability.

Equipping aircraft with the subsystems needed to employ advanced
munitions is a critical force enhancement that DOD considers necessary to
successfully execute its military strategy. DOD is making a sizable
investment in such weapons. For example, it estimates it will spend over
$15 billion on five major precision-guided munitions (PGM) for its combat
aircraft the joint stand-off weapon (JSOW), the joint direct attack
munition (JDAM), the Longbow Hellfire missile, the sensor fused weapon,
and the joint air-to-surface standoff missile. Additionally, other PGMS for
aircraft valued at nearly $4 billion entered the inventory from 1992 through
1996.

More than nine times as many F-16s and, with the growth in F-15E inventory, one-and-a-half times as many F-15Es can employ PGMS in 1996 than could do so in 1991.3 Overall, DOD estimates it has about twice as many aircraft capable of employing these types of weapons as it did during the Gulf War. The Hellfire missile has given more Army and Marine Corps helicopters a PGM capability. Future PGM development will concentrate on

3For these purposes, a PGM capability is the autonomous ability to employ laser-guided munitions.

U.S. Air Power Is Formidable and Improving

New Threats Force Growth in Air Defense

Long-Range Missiles Offer
More Capability

developing standoff weapons. Although some PGM capability is being lost through retirement of the Air Force F-111F and Navy A-6E, DOD expects to retain roughly the current level of capability into the next century.

In response to the growing threat of theater ballistic missiles that are used
in regional conflicts and can be armed with weapons of mass destruction,
DOD is increasing funding to upgrade existing and planned air defense
systems—a critical component of U.S. air superiority forces-and plans
more advanced developments as the threat evolves. The Army's Patriot
PAC-3 and upgrades to the Navy's area defense system will provide the
near-term response to this threat. Upgrades to the Air Force E-3 and Navy
E-2C surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft should also enhance
capabilities to counter the long-range cruise missile threat through
improved detection of cruise missiles en route to their targets. The
Space-Based Infrared System is also being developed to aid in missile
warning and missile defense. DOD plans to spend over $6 billion during the
next 5 years to develop future theater missile defense systems, including
the theater high-altitude air defense system.

Since the Gulf War, the Navy has improved its Tomahawk missile's operational responsiveness, target penetration, range, and accuracy. It has added global positioning system guidance and redesigned the warhead and engine in the missile's block III configuration that entered service in 1993. The Navy will upgrade or remanufacture existing Tomahawk missiles with (1) jam-resistant global positioning system receivers and an inertial navigation system to guide the missile throughout the mission and (2) a forward-looking terminal sensor to autonomously attack targets. These missiles are expected to enter service around 2000.

The ATACMS block LA, scheduled for delivery in fiscal year 1998, is an upgrade that will nearly double the range of the missile and increase its accuracy. More advanced versions of the ATACMS-block II and IIA-will use the brilliant anti-armor submunition, which is scheduled to enter service after the turn of the century. This submunition will give the missile the ability to acquire, track, and home on operating armored vehicles deep into enemy territory.

U.S. Air Power Is Formidable and Improving

Specialized Aircraft
Are Receiving
Upgrades

The services are also selectively upgrading their specialized aviation assets for surveillance and reconnaissance, SEADS, and air refueling. Coupled with force restructuring, DOD expects these upgrades to enhance combat operations and expand opportunities to perform joint operations and provide cross-service support.

Surveillance and
Reconnaissance
Capabilities Are Being
Improved

DOD Is Restructuring Its
Electronic Warfare Forces

DOD has identified battlefield surveillance as a critical force enhancement
needed to improve the capabilities, flexibility, and lethality of general
purpose forces and ensure the successful execution of the National
Military Strategy. The Air Force and Navy have improved existing sensors
that enhance the capability of current surveillance and reconnaissance
aircraft—the U-2R, RC-135V/W, and EP-3E-to provide intelligence
support to combat forces. Heading the list of battlefield surveillance
improvements, as shown in the Secretary of Defense's annual report, is the
E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System. With its synthetic
aperture radar and moving target indicator, this system is designed to
provide wide area, real-time information on the movement of enemy
forces to air and ground units. Also, DOD has invested hundreds of millions
of dollars, and plans to invest about $1.5 billion more over the next

5 years, to develop and procure unmanned aerial vehicles. DOD expects
that these vehicles will provide complementary battlefield reconnaissance
and reduce the need for manned reconnaissance aircraft to penetrate
enemy airspace.

The Air Force is improving its E-3 and the Navy its Hawkeye E-2C aerial surveillance and control aircraft in their roles as early warning and airborne command and control platforms. For the E-3, $220 million was appropriated for fiscal year 1996 to improve the aircraft's capabilities. Annual modification expenditures for the E-2C more than doubled in 1995 from those in 1991, despite a shrinking inventory. The Air Force RC-135 and Navy EP-3E signals intelligence aircraft are also being upgraded to improve the collection and dissemination of intelligence data.

SEAD-the synergistic use of radar and communications jamming and of
destruction through the use of antiradiation missiles-is recognized to be
a critical component of air operations, as it improves the survivability of
other U.S. aircraft in combat areas. In establishing funding priorities, DOD
has decided to retire certain Air Force SEAD aircraft-the F-4G and
EF-111A jammer—and replace them with a new Air Force system, the high
speed anti-radiation missile (HARM) targeting system on the F-16C, and an

U.S. Air Power Is Formidable and Improving

existing Navy electronic warfare aircraft, the EA-6B. We expressed serious concerns about the prudence of these decisions in an April 1996 report, as the decisions were made without an assessment of how the cumulative changes in SEAD capabilities would affect overall warfighting capability.4 Although DOD recognizes that it must adjust tactics and operations to account for performance differences between current and replacement systems, it believes that it can meet the Air Force's SEAD needs into the next century by selectively upgrading the EA-6B and the HARM targeting system.

When the Air Force completes the retirement of its most capable lethal SEAD aircraft, the F-4G, at the end of fiscal year 1996, it will primarily rely on 72 F-16C aircraft equipped with the HARM targeting system. However, the EA-6B, which will replace the EF-111 in the Air Force's nonlethal SEAD role, can also target and fire HARM missiles. It also has a

communications-jamming capability that will allow it to supplement the Air Force's heavily burdened communications jammer, the EC-130H Compass Call. The Air Force has also decided to upgrade its EC-130H fleet to meet new threats.

Recognizing that too few EA-6B aircraft may be available to meet both Air Force and Navy needs, DOD plans to retain 12 EF-111s in the active inventory through the end of 1998, when additional upgraded EA-6BS should be available. Though the performance of the two platforms is not the same, and the multiservice use of the same platform will entail some logistics support challenges, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff believes that retiring the EF-111 represents a "prudent risk" that DOD can take to more fully fund higher priority needs. DOD believes the SEAD mission is important and will retain about 140 radar and communications jamming aircraft and over 800 aircraft able to fire antiradiation missiles in its force structure.

Cross-Service Air
Refueling Capability
Continues to Grow

From the end of 1991 through 1996, the Air Force will have replaced the engines on 126 KC-135 tankers at a cost of over $20 million per aircraft. These reengined aircraft offer up to 50 percent greater fuel off-load capacity and quieter, cleaner, and more fuel-efficient performance with lower maintenance requirements. The Air Force is considering the same upgrades to about 140 more KC-135s.

"Combat Air Power. Funding Priority for Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses May Be Too Low (GAO/NSIAD-96-128, April 10, 1996).