Ah - if you're referring to just large scale war fighting operations, then I agree. But there are also medium scale ones, 'air policing', 'enforcement'....all of which may require AT/AAR support amongst other things. Yes, there may well be a need for 'a lot - and quickly', but there'll also be ongoing 'after actions' to support as you indicate; many of us have been back and forth to the Falklands many times ever since the C130, VC10 and TriStar first started going there and have certainly been detached to the Gulf pretty often since the end of the First Gulf War. The SA airlift requirements of today are indeed less than they were 20 years ago, but you can't support all your theatres at the same time if you've only got a few very large ac - even if, as with C-17, they're very effective. Even they can't be in 2 places at once!
Last edited by BEagle; 6th May 2002 at 12:47.