Image source: topwar.ru
The new U.S. Air Force infrastructure modernization strategy does not include any plans to build new fortified hangars for aviation or other physical protection equipment. The decision not to allocate money for their construction was made against the background of a serious debate about how best to ensure the defense of military facilities from the growing threats from drones and missiles.
The Ministry of the Air Force has published a document stating the need to protect infrastructure from UAVs and hypersonic missiles. For its stability, "the possibility of almost instantaneous recovery" and "efficient energy supply" are required.
- said Ravi Chaudhary, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force.
However, not everyone in the command agrees with this approach. Some officials believe that it is difficult to find a shelter capable of withstanding a powerful blow.
- Air Force General Kenneth Wilsbach, then head of the Pacific Air Force, noted in 2023.
13 congressmen disagreed that shelters would not protect against precision-guided munitions, pointing out that during recent military exercises simulating a conflict with China over Taiwan, US aircraft suffered 90% of losses on the ground, not in aerial combat.
Image source: topwar.ru
However, the Air Force is actively implementing the concept of distributed operations, according to which the vulnerability of aviation should be reduced by its dispersal, unpredictable redeployment around the world and masking these movements to deceive the enemy.
However, it is likely that the refusal of the Air Force to finance the construction of shelters is due to the fact that the protection of air bases from air threats at home and abroad has been entrusted to the army since 1948. As Chaudhary noted, "it is possible that we will want to take on some of these tasks in the future."
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said.
These feuds are taking place against the backdrop of a growing threat from UAVs. Individual enthusiasts on the ground are already looking for means of protection against them. For example, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina is considering the possibility of installing anti-drone nets or other passive means of protection against drones.
