Project AIR FORCE Modeling Capabilities for Support of Combat Operations in Denied Environments

Abstract : For the past two decades, the U.S. Air Force has operated with impunity from air bases that have been relatively safe from attack. This may become more challenging in the future, as U.S. security policy places greater emphasis on ensuring U.S. presence in the Pacific. The rebalance to the Pacific could expose U.S. and allied air bases to significant ballistic and cruise missiles from a near-peer power. Ensuring resilient combat operations in denied environments (CODE) will likely require a mix of strategies, including active defense, dispersed operations, some hardening, and some combat support recovery functions (such as airfield damage repair [ADR] capabilities). These measures will have substantial impacts on combat support materiel requirements and logistics; force posturing; base infrastructure requirements, including resources needed to mitigate threats; and relationships between the United States and its allies. Yet, thus far, there has been no comprehensive analysis of these impacts and how the Air Force should manage them.