It is described by the United States Air Force as the modern backbone of America's long-range bomber force, built for low-level, high-speed missions.
It therefore is essential that steps be taken now to preserve an adequate long-range bomber force.
At present the nation's long-range bomber force consists primarily of two aircraft: the B-52 and the B-1.
The long-range bomber force dwindled to a handful of decrepit Cold War aircraft.
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Approximately 45 percent of the future long-range strike force would be unmanned.
Policymakers knew America needed its own force of long-range missiles to deter a Russian attack, but deterrence was a new idea so they also wanted to have the protection provided by real defenses.
Although the number of F-22 fighters was capped at 187, the Air Force would increase its long-range strike capabilities by 50 percent and the penetrating component of long-range strike by a factor of five by 2025.
In a move that American defence planners might envy, the army, air force and navy will be linked into a single force geared to rapid, long-range deployment.
Having recently reversed himself on the bomber and approved Air Force plans to develop a new long-range strike aircraft, the defense secretary needs to also revisit his decision on F-22.
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"In addition, China is developing a variety of medium- and high-altitude long-endurance unmanned vehicles, which when deployed, will expand the PLA Air Force's 'options for long-range reconnaissance and strike, ' " it said, citing an earlier Pentagon report.
So with their aging fleet of barely 160 long-range bombers facing a growing array of operational challenges, Air Force leaders have reluctantly come to the conclusion that they need to buy a new bomber.
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Advocates of close relations with China maintain that its military strength has been overrated by Americans in search of an enemy: they point to China's lack of long-range naval power and the poor training of its air-force pilots.
Artillery was gradually replaced by tactical missiles in the defensive role, but the Air Force was too busy building a fleet of long-range bombers and supersonic fighters to be bothered with ground-based air defenses, while Army troops had a clear need for such defenses.
Where does long-range aerial refueling come into the strategic requirements of what is, primarily, a deterrence force?
It was originally designed to force Mr Hussein to cooperate with UN inspectors trying to ferret out Iraq's long-range missiles, and the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons they might carry.
The national security and commercial implications of this decision have been exacerbated, however, by two other, seemingly unrelated actions: President Obama's decision to stop producing long-range missile defense interceptors and to defer indefinitely any replacement of our aging nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile force.
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