Bob Gates Vs USAF....Who Was Right?

[SASless]

In his book "Duty", former SecDef Robert Gates, slams the USAF for being way too slow to field adequate ISR Assets and failing to have a real awareness of the need to support "current operations" while keeping its focus on "future wars".

He does make a compelling case.

The Air Force for some reason.....sees it differently.

http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2014/March%202014/0314gates.aspx

[sandiego89]

I do think there is some merit on too much focus on a peer conflict in the future. While I do agree you need to look to the future, and develop the best for the future, perhpas there could be more focus on "good enough" programs and keeping existing fleets in top condition. A "high/low" mix is preferred to ensure you have a good mix of world beating and good enough platforms, and pehaps there has been too much focus on the "high" end. Insisting on the gold plated F-22 and F-35 and the next generation bomber seem to support to much emphasis on world beating technology.

The apparant abandonment of the A-10 and the lack of a "low" COIN aircraft indicate too little emphasis on low. The recent COIN programs for partner use came up with warmed over Tucanos and Texan II's- is that really the best that US aeropsace can come up with?

A new build F-15 is another example. With improved avionics (yes expensive) and a zero timed airframe you would have a fighter that would likely be "good enough" for most conflicts.

The USAF insistance on fully qualified pilots as drone operators is indicative of a pilot run organization, and perhaps slow to change. The power of the flight suit is strong.

[Heathrow Harry]

what else are you going to do with all those fighter jocks when there are so few aircraft for them to fly?

[LowObservable]

Gates comes across as the man who will never admit that he was wrong.

On the F-22, his comment that the F-35 "was comparable to the F-22 in the air-to-air mission" is a matter of believing advertising hype. (AFA says "not even LockMart makes that claim", which is true-but-not-true - LM has consistently claimed that the F-35 far outclasses anything other than the F-22 in air-to-air, which could be called "comparable.")

And in 2009, the F-35 was officially "coming along" and still due to be operational in 2013. There were plenty of warnings that this was moonshine, but until Ash Carter arrived, the warnings were being pooh-poohed by Gates' top lieutenants - his deputy Gordon England and acquisition boss John Young.

The AF position on drones was not unreasonable. What in fact has happened is that the AF has obediently built up a large force of Reapers that are very big and expensive for non-contested-airspace ISR, but completely useless against any defenses. Meanwhile, the Army has gone ahead with a wasteful and duplicative program to build a super-Predator that is tied to a division.

[LowObservable]

SP - a good observation.

Unfortunately, a lot of boot-centric-warfare guys define ISR as something that they can see in the sky above them, that they can control directly, and that gives them a pretty FMV image of a spot on the tactical tablecloth.

[SASless]

Odd.....having read both Gates book and McCrytals book "My Share of the Task".....I seem to see Gates was far closer to being right. His basic compliant was about allocation of resources and that the Air Force in particular and the Army as well were not doing all they could to provide ISR resources to the people that needed it.

He also took serious issue with the sheer immobility of the DOD and Services Uniform and Civilian Bureaucracy.....and any objective study of the MRAP program and the ISR program would clearly show the Services were very slow to adapt to the needs of the Troops in the field.

The Air Force wanted super sophisticated ISR platforms.....when Beechcraft KingAirs could be fielded quickly and cheaply and meet immediate needs.

The USMC moved quickly on getting MRAPs....unlike the Army which did not want to spend the money despite the Thousands of Casualties it was taking due to IED's and the continued use of Humvees with varying amounts of Armor.....none of which were adequate protection from IED's

Gates admits many mistakes in his book....using clear and precise admissions of mistakes and failures he personally made.

One thing he was exactly right about is the inability of the DOD to buy things quickly, cheaply, and effectively and field them with the Troops that need them in a timely manner.

Anyone wants to argue that is simply living in an alternative universe.