Arlington, VA | June 26, 2025 — The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies announces a new entry in its Forum Paper series, Reclaiming Air Superiority: The Urgent Case for Air Battle Management in Near-Peer Rivalry, by Lt Col Grant M. Georgulis, USAF, a recent Air Force National Defense Fellow at the Mitchell Institute.

For twenty years, the United States Air Force (USAF) conducted counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in the permissive airspace of Iraq and Afghanistan, during which time air supremacy remained unchallenged, and the force-multiplying effect of air battle management was constant. That era has ended. In potential future conflicts with near-peer adversaries, particularly China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), the USAF can expect to face sophisticated integrated air defenses (IADs) and over 600 modern fighters.

In these non-permissive environments, U.S. air forces will need to actively pursue air superiority through kinetic air-to-air engagements and layered air battle management across the air and space domains. Fourth- and fifth-generation fighters rely upon the support of air battle managers on platforms like the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), Control Reporting Centers (CRCs), other emerging ground-based air battle management capabilities, and soon the E-7 to successfully fulfill this mission. These professionals excel at managing air wars, and the Department of Defense (DOD) must regard them as a priority.

Mitchell Institute’s Forum Papers present innovative concepts and thought-provoking insight from aerospace experts here in the United States and across the globe. As a means to afford publishing opportunities for thoughtful perspectives, Forum Papers provide high visibility to writing efforts on issues spanning technology and operational concepts, defense policy and strategy, and unique interpretations of changing geopolitical relationships.

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Copies of Forum Papers can be downloaded at https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/publications