https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated November 14, 2022
Defense Primer: United States Airpower
Almost since the invention of heavier-than-air flight,
control of the air has been seen as a military advantage.
Over time, the United States has come to treat air
superiority as a necessity, and built such capable air forces
that no enemy aircraft has killed U.S. ground troops since
1953.
Modern airpower is able to provide a full range of effects,
from strategic operations at intercontinental ranges to direct
support of troops in combat. Today, every branch of the
U.S. military employs air forces for various purposes,
employing nearly 14,000 aircraft.
Figure 1. U.S. Air Forces, 2019-2028
Source: Department of Defense, Annual Aviation Inventory and Funding
Plan, Fiscal Years (FY) 2019-2048, March 2018. DOD has not been
required to submit subsequent plans.
The United States Air Force
The bulk of U.S. airpower resides in the U.S. Air Force
(USAF). With 511,500 active and reserve personnel and
more than 5,000 aircraft, the USAF provides the capability
to reach, observe, strike and/or carry people and materiel to
any point on the globe. Four of the Air Force’s five core
missions directly involve applying airpower.
Table 1. Air Force Core Missions
Source: U.S. Air Force, Global Vigilance, Global Reach, Global Power for
America at http://www.af.mil/Airpower4America.aspx.
The Air Force fleet covers the full range of aerial
capabilities, from fighters to intelligence aircraft, bombers,
transports, and helicopters. Moreover, USAF airpower
enables other military services to apply their forces directly.
USAF cargo planes get Army and Marine troops and
equipment to the battlefield, and aeromedical transport
rapidly evacuates and treats injured troops. Air Force aerial
reconnaissance assets give joint commanders real-time
strategic and tactical intelligence. USAF tankers make
worldwide deployments by joint and allied forces possible.
And Air Force assets work directly with ground units to
provide weapons on target when and where needed, and to
secure them against attack from the air.
Taken together, the Air Force sums up its core missions as
providing “Global Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global
Power.”
Army Aviation
Helicopters capable of accompanying troops to provide
tactical airlift, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
(ISR), and supporting fires form the backbone of Army
aviation, about 3,600 of its more than 4,600 aircraft. The
service also operates light transport, special operations, and
intratheater airlift aircraft. The USAF provides heavy
transport and longer-range missions.
Naval Aviation
The U.S. Navy operates more than 2,500 aircraft (including
about 900 fighters) in 10 air wings. Their unique asset is the
ability to take their operating bases with them, as the
Navy’s 11 aircraft carriers (each with about 40 fighters plus
other air assets) provide U.S. presence and operational
capability far from home. Naval air assets are optimized for
strike; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and
fleet defense.
Marine Corps Aviation
The nearly 1,200 Marine Corps aircraft (including just over
400 fighters) operate from Navy ships, Marine amphibious
ships, and land bases, including expeditionary land bases
with short runways. Some Marine Corps tactical aircraft are
capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing, a useful
capability because Marine aircraft are deployed and
operated as part of Marine air/ground task forces, in which
aviation is integrated into and moves with the unit, often at
a remove from prepared airfields.
Fighting as One
While the military services offer different capabilities and
provide the equipment, personnel, and training, under
current joint operations doctrine, they fight as one force. A
joint air component commander oversees all airpower in a
given campaign, assigning targets and allocating forces as
needs warrant, without regard for the service that owns a
particular capability.
Major Procurement Programs
The largest current DOD programs include the following:
The F-35 Lightning II strike fighter, a multi-service,
multi-national program slated to acquire 2,456 jets for
