Advanced weapons system plans give N.M. bases lastest aircraft

  • Published
WASHINGTON --  The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, released the Air Force's weapon system "roadmap," on Wednesday. The roadmap is a long-term plan for providing Air Force capabilities the Nation needs in the 21st century to meet threats to the Nation's security.

The roadmap includes potential future weapon systems basing for New Mexico Air Force bases. Kirtland is being considered to receive the CSAR-X, Combat Search and Rescue Helicopter and the F-35A Lightning II. Plans also include basing the CV-22, the MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper at Cannon AFB and the F-22 Raptor at Holloman AFB.

As part of the Air Force's strategic planning efforts, senior leaders from the regular Air Force, National Guard and Air Force Reserve gathered in early December to discuss this plan and collaborate on this "roadmap" for the nation's Air Force, a roadmap designed to meet one of the nation's most pressing needs: recapitalization and modernization of its aging Air Force fleet.

"Our nation's competitors know that our Air Force provides America its decisive advantage," said General Moseley. "We need to prepare today for tomorrow's challenges. We need one vector to best meet the warfighting requirements of our Nation."

General Moseley's roadmap outlines where future advanced weapon systems could potentially be based in the continental U.S., Hawaii, Alaska and U.S. territories. The plan calls for the Air Force to evaluate installations which house legacy weapon systems forecasted for replacement by future systems.

These "next-generation" capabilities are required to fight and win America's wars, and the roadmap represents a total force (regular Air Force, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve) approach to the beddown of weapon systems. Current and future requirements to build the capabilities of international partners will also be considered as part of the beddown decision process.

"We're simply promising a look at these systems and installations as our planning continues," added General Moseley. "This is the Air Force's planning process for the future, for providing the required force structure that will give our nation capability for vigilance, reach and power across the globe, to reassure allies, to deter, dissuade and defeat adversaries and to protect the homeland."

The roadmap represents a more efficient and flexible force structure.

Although the Air Force will have a smaller total aircraft inventory, overall Air Force capabilities will increase with each next-generation weapon system. In numerous instances, the potential locations will capitalize on total force integration efforts, creating innovative organizational arrangements among regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve components.

This effort takes advantage of the inherent strengths of each of the three components.

Installations that meet preliminary objective requirements will then undergo thorough environmental studies in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

NEPA mandates environmental analyses and impact studies which are critical factors in determining final beddown bases in the United States as suitable locations for weapon systems.

These major studies take time, may consider either one or several installations in a single study and may not be initiated at every potential location.

The findings of these environmental studies, and the results of required fiscal and operational analyses which will be conducted over the next several years, will determine the final beddown plan and phasing.

The plans released Wednesday do not include possible basing initiatives on foreign soil.
Overseas basing of Air Force future weapon systems will be accomplished in partnership with allies using normal consultative planning venues.