CADRE Quick-Look: Sky Cops

Abstract

Problem: 1. What role does the USAF have in Phase IV? 2. After the success of Air Power during recent wars, will the Air Force have a hard time justifying, maintaining, and/or increasing it's current major force programing levels? 3. What can the Air Force do to help bring the current Iraqi situation to a positive resolution sooner rather than later? 4. Can the Air Force better assist in border patrol and countering the flow of terrorists from one country to another and also aid in the war on drugs? Discussion. We used to call the proud Airmen guarding our flight lines and their precious air assets, our bases and the front doors to the Air Force "Sky Cops." It is time for the Air Force to start developing a new "Sky Cops" capability. We have all heard the saying that goes something like, "When the Spectre flies, all the bad guys stay home, or go home in a box." The gun ship (AC-130, nicknamed "Spectre") provides the ultimate night surveillance platform with the added capability of massive and pinpoint kinetic weapons fire. Now think back to all the cop shows you use to watch. Remember two cops sitting in an unmarked car staking out the bad guys and eating doughnuts? In effect, that is what the Spectre can do, and when the bad guys know they are in the sky, they tend to stay home. Part of the problem in Fallujah and other trouble spots in Iraq is the bad guys can operate with virtual impunity, unless the Spectre is in their area. There simply are not enough Spectres to cover all the hot spots in Iraq. The Air Force must take the capability of the gunship, flatten it out to provide greater coverage, and add monitoring and recording capability. Communications gear capable of working with the entire spectrum of operators on the ground and various command and control entities is a must. The goal should be a smaller, less expensive airframe(s) and more of them.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA432511

Entities

People

  • Alexander M. Wathen
  • John L. Conway
  • Mike Meyer

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Command And Control
  • Defense Systems
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Electronic Mail
  • Homeland Defense
  • Hot Spots
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Security
  • Surveillance
  • Universities
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Educational Psychology
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control