Un report from the RAND Corporation, commanded by the US Air Force, identifies two key elements of the effectiveness of strategies to achieve and maintain air superiority in the years to come, namely the number of aircraft available, and the return to some form of hardiness of these devices.
The report examines the relevance of the strategy of dispersal of forces, widely used during the Cold War, in the context of a high-intensity conflict facing a technologically advanced adversary. Indeed, in the conflicts in which the American air forces have participated over the past 30 years, air bases were regarded as an inviolable sanctuary, making it possible to deploy a significant number of aircraft at relatively short distances from combat. This approach allowed rapid rotations, and reduced transits, increasing the effectiveness of the air weapon.
However, this strategy cannot be used in the context of modern high intensity conflict, the adversary having the means to strike this or these bases, and therefore to deal a severe blow to the air assets engaged. Resorting to the dispersal of forces, in small numbers over a large number of aerodromes, will therefore be essential to be able to withstand these strikes by ballistic missiles or cruise missiles, hypersonic or not. In addition, these bases must be far from the zones of engagement, so as to limit the possibilities of detection and strike by the adversary.
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