Air Sovereignty Alert: America's Security Blanket

Abstract

Air sovereignty alert is the modern day continental air defense (AD) mission that was originally developed to combat the Cold War Soviet manned bomber nuclear threat. The invention of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile all but alleviated the need for Air Defense mission and the resulting drawdown in forces during the 1970-80's prompted Gen Collin Powell to recommend the AD mission be cancelled or severely reduced. Today, in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the 24/7 alert mission is accomplished by general-purpose fighters with no additional force structure or manpower. Dual tasking the fighter wings and their manpower is having detrimental effects on the force and this practice cannot be maintained. This near term issue is having long term implications on the status of the fighter force and the ability to provide forces forward to the combatant commanders. This paper takes a critical look at the requirements to continue the air sovereignty alert mission.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 08, 2009
Accession Number
ADA499110

Entities

People

  • Gordon Niebergall

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Counter WMD
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Force Structure
  • Homeland Defense
  • Homeland Security
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • North America
  • Personnel Management
  • Security
  • Tanker Aircraft
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • United States Northern Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aviation Science / Aeronautics.
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design