MITRE: Air Force Needs New Aircraft, Basing Ideas to Win in Pacific

A prominent Pentagon-funded research organization argues that the Air Force needs to rethink its procurement plans and spread its forces across more bases by 2030 to be a formidable opponent in the Pacific. An unclassified summary of MITRE Corp.’s sweeping inventory study, which Air Force Magazine obtained Aug. 7, calls for buying additional long-range aircraft and “large magazines of long-range standoff weapons,” expanding four bases in the Pacific region to host up to 24 bombers and 18 tankers, and making at least 80 percent of all aircraft mission-capable. Read more ►