January 10, 2022
Spiking the Problem: Developing a Resilient Posture in the Indo-Pacific With Passive Defenses
This article originally appeared in War on the Rocks.
In the late 1960s, U.S. Air Force Gen. Glenn Kent found a unique but effective way to overcome persistent resistance from Defense Department colleagues to building base defenses in Europe. During heated budget battles, Air Force officers habitually prioritized new aircraft and missiles over purely defensive measures. Gen. William “Spike” Wallace Momyer, commander of U.S. Tactical Air Forces, had written on a piece of paper that his top priority was to build hardened aircraft shelters to protect American fighter aircraft based in Europe from Soviet attack. Kent then obtained the Air Force chief of staff’s concurrence, which was captured by his signature under the phrase “I’m with Spike.” Kent or a colonel attended every meeting as the Air Force built its budget and each time eliminating funding for the shelters was proposed, he pulled out that piece of paper and said, “I’m with Spike.”
America’s military posture, which is comprised of forces, bases, and agreements, is a critical issue that needs a senior champion
This level of senior leader guidance and continuous engagement was needed to ensure that short-range American airpower — a key U.S. advantage — could have been effectively employed to stop a Soviet invasion, thereby strengthening deterrence.
Today, America’s military posture, which is comprised of forces, bases, and agreements, is a critical issue that needs a senior champion. China has a formidable arsenal of conventionally armed long-range missiles that are significantly more accurate than the ones that the Soviet Union had during the Cold War and plans to fire them in a first strike to destroy U.S. forces on the land and at sea. The Defense Department should ensure that American forces in the Indo-Pacific can survive this blow and generate combat power while under attack, which requires taking steps to increase the resiliency of U.S. military posture.
Read the full article from War on the Rocks.
More from CNAS
-
The Pentagon Is Using Artificial Intelligence Right Now. Here’s How.
Video
Artificial intelligence is the future of the military, or so Pentagon leaders keep saying. But is it the future — or is that future already here? That’s the question Breaking ...
By Josh Wallin
-
Stuck in the Cul-de-Sac
Reports
For more than a decade, the United States has sought to modernize its military to deter China, but it has become stuck in a developmental cul-de-sac that has allowed China to ...
By Carlton Haelig & Philip Sheers
-
Podcast
Defense / Transatlantic Security
MWI Podcast: Europe’s Airspace Violations and the Counterdrone ChallengeJohn Amble is joined on this episode of the MWI Podcast by Dr. Stacie Pettyjohn, a senior fellow and director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security....
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
Video
Defense / Technology & National Security
Which Technology Offers the Best Defense Against Drones? Lasers or Mobile Gun Trucks?Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Romania and Norway are some of the European countries that have reported -- just this month alone -- drone incursions into their airspace. So far, the...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
