Training, surveillance get top billing for AF - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Training, surveillance get top billing for AF

The Air Force will place greater emphasis on training foreign air forces and surveillance missions in the next five years but will still rely heavily on manned fighters, bombers and mobility aircraft, according to a draft of the Quadrennial Defense Review, a road map for the Defense Department.

Pentagon officials will release a final version of the QDR next Monday; the draft, obtained by Air Force Times, is dated Dec. 9.

The draft does not call for any drastic changes to ongoing Air Force programs, such as combat search and rescue, and makes no mention of specific aircraft such as the F-35 Lightning II.

Instead, the review looks at broad missions and types of aircraft:

* Eight intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ISR wings, with about 300 aircraft.

* 29 airlift and aerial refueling wing-equivalents, with 33 primary mission aircraft per wing.

* 11 to 12 theater strike-wing equivalents, with 72 primary mission aircraft per wing.

* Five long-range strike bomber wings, with up to 96 primary mission aircraft.

* Five air superiority wing-equivalents, with 72 primary mission aircraft per wing.

* Three command and control wings, with 30 aircraft and five air and space operations centers.

* 10 space and cyberspace wings.

The draft does not specify how many special operations, training or rescue wings the service Air Force should have.

The report, however, calls for the Air Force to boost its ability to train and work with foreign air forces as part of greater Defense Department focus on counterterrorism and combating insurgencies.

“Today, the Department meets only half of the current demand for training partner aviation forces,” the review states. “In fiscal year 2012, the Defense Department will double its current capacity to provide such training.”

To accomplish that, the draft calls for the service to move forward with obtaining “light-attack” aircraft and “light mobility” aircraft and establishing units “that are specially organized, trained, and equipped for counterinsurgency, stability, and counter terrorism operations.

The draft does not specify the number of light attack or mobility aircraft.

The report calls for the 6th Special Operations Squadron, a unit focused on training foreign militaries, to buy “light fixed-wing aircraft” and two “non-U.S. standard helicopters.”

Looking at large-scale battles, the report highlights continued development of the Navy and Air Force’s “joint air-sea battle concept” and development of a long-range strike aircraft.

The Air Force also must continue its electronic warfare role, but the report does not specify how the Air Force will do that other than adding one C-130 equipped for electronic warfare.

For in-depth QDR coverage, visit DefenseNews.com