That implies spending a lot more money on long-endurance air power and sea power, such as the new Air Force bomber and Navy unmanned strike aircraft that Gates endorsed in January.
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At present the nation's long-range bomber force consists primarily of two aircraft: the B-52 and the B-1.
The drone is a wing-shaped aircraft, like the stealth bomber, a design that is supposed to make it less visible to radar.
The long-range bomber force dwindled to a handful of decrepit Cold War aircraft.
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In theory, the Air Force has many hundreds of tactical aircraft like the F-15E fighter-bomber that might be used to prosecute an air campaign in the Western Pacific, but those planes have limited ranges and thus would be heavily dependent on aerial refueling.
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After graduating from Oxford he joined the RAF and served in Bomber Command eventually being shot down over the Netherlands while his aircraft was on a mine laying operation.
"A genuine strategic air power must possess a strong power projection capability, which is highly reliant on large aircraft, namely a strategic air freighter and a strategic bomber, " said Wang Yanan, deputy editor in chief at Aerospace Knowledge magazine and a military analyst, in a China Daily report.
It stretched out construction of aircraft carriers, delayed development of a new long-range bomber, and started over on several helicopters.
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The sprawling aerospace company forged from the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967 saw its carrier-based A-12 bomber canceled in January, and then lost the competition to build a successor to its signature F-15 fighter three months later.
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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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The last airworthy Vulcan bomber will fly for the final time next year, the trust which funds the aircraft has confirmed.
The discussion then turned to the topic of the impact on bomber industrial capabilities if the B-2 production line is shut down after 20 aircraft are manufactured.
The giant half-dome shelters are an essential part of the bomber fleet as the B-2 requires a controlled environment for repairs on the aircraft's delicate skin that allows it to fly undetected by radar.
While no effort was made to define or formally approve consensus positions or recommendations, the summary of the proceedings offered powerful arguments for fielding a large and flexible manned bomber force for the indefinite future, with a fleet of more than 20 B-2 aircraft as its backbone.
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