Finding the Right Mix of Military and Civil Airlift, Issues and Implications:Volume 1. Executive Summary

摘要

As our national security strategy is adapting to a changing world, inter theaterairlift remains an important instrument for implementing foreign and defense policies, because it provides the Department of Defense (DoD) with the ability to deliver combat forces or humanitarian relief rapidly anywhere in the world and to follow through quickly in response to changing circumstances. Military airlift, however, is the most costly mode of transportation, because it requires specialized military transports that are more expensive than civil transports and have limited utility between crises. Even during the height of the Cold War, the DoD's total supply of military and civil airlift was constrained by budgets and fell short of being sufficient to support the national military strategy for reinforcing NATO. Because our national security strategy continues to place high demands on airlift, and because the supply of airlift will remain fiscally constrained, it is important to invest wisely in the right mix of capabilities.