This week we’re talking about what it’ll take to project airpower into the heart of the fight in a conflict with China. Most of the time we think about enemy fighter planes, surface-to-air missiles, and AAA, but the biggest challenge might come down to electromagnetic spectrum operations. China has long-studied US warfighting constructs and they know that our forces are highly reliant on networked operations. Whether thinking about command and control, teaming mission assets real-time, or taking advantage of connectivity to space… the American way of war, especially airpower, requires a lot of connectivity. They’ve focused a tremendous amount of energy to degrade and deny this communication. That has huge implications for our forces.

It’s exactly what Mike Dahm investigated in his latest report—Disconnected by Design—Fifth and Sixth Generation Aircraft in Disaggregated Collaborative Air Operations. The concept relies upon a force of fifth and sixth-generation aircraft, plus CCA, that can penetrate adversary air defenses, sensing, coordinating, and executing individual actions at the tactical edge of the battlespace.

Guests

J. Michael DahmSenior Fellow for Aerospace and China Studies, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Col Russell BadowskiAssistant Professor, Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, National Defense University

Host

Heather PenneyDirector of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Related Reading

• Disconnected by Design: A New Way to Employ 5th-Gen Jets
• Disconnected by Design: Fifth- and Sixth-Generation Aircraft in Disaggregated Collaborative Air Operations (Paper Rollout)

Credits