Carriers Aren’t The Only Big Targets: The Challenges of Mobile Basing
By Robbin Laird on June 08, 2018 at 4:53 PM
For years, we’ve heard about how vulnerable aircraft carriers are to enemy fire. They’re big. They’re not that fast — compared to a missile. But a big airbase isn’t exactly mobile. While it can be hardened, its location is well known. So, this year the Pentagon requested $361 million for deployable airbase systems as part of the European Reassurance Initiative. And in this week’s National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate Armed Services Committee says it wants the Pentagon to spend $157 million to buy seven deployable airbase systems for the Pacific theater. Why? “U.S. force posture in the Indo-Pacific region remains heavily concentrated in Northeast Asia within range of China’s advanced arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles, posing a significant risk†to Indo-Pacific Command’s forces. In this op-ed, Robbin Laird, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, widens the aperture and looks at the cases of Finland and Australia and discusses why mobile basing is so important and what must be done. Read on! The Editor.
https://breakingdefense.com/2018/06/carriers-arent-the-only-big-targets-the-challenges-of-mobile-basing/?_ga=2.66789740.33052752.1528713518-467665068.1528713518
