the US Air Force is by far the most capable Air Arm on the planet in addition to proper training
and rigorous doctrine the Air Force needs modern weapons to keep ahead of potential competitors
over the past decade America's led in the air has started to erode as Russia has slowly been
recovering from the collapse of the Soviet Union and China has begun to emerge as a superpower
nonetheless these following five systems are the backbone of the US Air Force and should continue
to hold the advantage for some time to come if ever the unthinkable occurred this is five
reasons no nation wants to go to war with the US Air Force number five bowing LG m3 og Minuteman
3 those strategic nuclear deterrence has become less prominent since the end of the Cold War the
mission remains the single most important one for the Air Force the backbone of America's nuclear
deterrence remains the 1960s vintage LG m3 og Minuteman 3 some 450 of these missiles form the
land-based component of the so-called nuclear triad over the years the long-serving missile
has been modified and upgraded with better guidance systems and new rocket motors though
originally designed to be fitted with three multiple independent reentry vehicles each
carrying a nuclear warhead the current version of the missile carries only one 300 kiloton
weapon the United States plans to continue to upgrade that missile but eventually will have
to develop a new ICBM to replace the Minuteman it's not a question of if it's a question of
when the readiness of the nuclear missile force has come into question repeatedly over the past
several years a number of officers have been caught cheating in tests and a number of senior
officers have been dismissed as a result all of that has cast a shadow over the entire force
number four Northrop Grumman b-2 spirit
the air force's tiny fleet of 20 Northrop Grumman b-2 spirit stealth bombers is the
only long-range penetrating strike acid in the Service's arsenal no other aircraft in the Air
Force inventory has the range to takeoff from the continental United States and strike at
targets on the other side of the globe inside highly contested airspace the b2 has an under
fueled range of around 6,000 nautical miles but that can be extended to around 10,000 with aerial
refuelling nor does any other warplane in the Air Force inventory have the ability to penetrate the
kinds of dense air defenses against which the b2 was designed to operate the b2 was designed
to fly deep into the heart of the Soviet Union to deliver a payload of thermonuclear bombs in
the event of a third world war while the b2 has never had occasion to fly that doomsday
mission those same capabilities allow the bomber to strike with near impunity against almost any
target around the globe further while fighters like the f-22 or f-35 are very stealthy against
high frequency fire control radars a large flying wing aircraft like the b2 is also difficult to
track using low frequency radars operating in the UHF and VHF bands the problem for the Air
Force is that there were only 21 B minus 2's ordered before the first Bush administration
terminated the program of those 21 Jets one has already been lost not only is the fleet
tiny and in high demand the bomber has sensitive coatings and is ridiculously expensive to maintain
to make matters worse potential adversaries like Russia and China are learning to counter the b2
the Air Force has a follow-on bomber project called the long-range strike
bomber in the works which is set to become operational in the mid 2020s the service
hopes to acquire between 80 and 100 of the new stealth bombers for a cost of 550
million dollars per jet which is less than the b2 s near two billion dollars price tag
number three Boeing kc-135
while often overlooked what makes the US Airforce unique amongst the world's air forces is its
ability to hit targets around the globe the kc-135 aerial refueling tanker is what enables
American airpower to conduct its missions that's not just for the Air Force the Navy and Marine
corpse aviation assets are also dependent on the air arms big wing tankers to carry out their
missions the Eisenhower era kc-135 is old and it needs to be replaced urgently the Air Force has
made several abortive attempts to recapitalize part of the fleet over the past two decades the
current Boeing kc-46 tanker effort will replace a part of the massive kc-135 fleet however even
with the addition of 179 kc-46 tankers by 2028 the bulk of the fleet will remain kc-135s the
Air Force hopes to conduct follow-on competitions to replace the remainder of the fleet eventually
number two boeing f-15e Strike Eagle the f-15e Strike Eagle is the long-range heavy hitter of
the air force's fighter fleet the Air Force has 213 of these dual role fighters which replaced
the long-serving General Dynamics f-111 strike aircraft unlike the air superiority focused
f-15 CD from which it was derived the strike eagle is primarily a strike aircraft it has far
greater range and payload capacity than any other fighter in the Air Force inventory but even with
the added air-to-ground role the f-15e remains a respectable fighter especially in beyond visual
range engagements the f-15e like many aircraft in the Air Force's aging inventory will continue to
serve well into the 2030s the service is upgrading the Jets with new Raytheon a pGAD - active
electronically scanned array radars and other modern hardware but a number of pilots complained
that foreign versions of the jet are far better equipped meanwhile while the upgrades will keep
the Strike Eagle relevant into the 2030s the Air Force has no plans to replace the venerable Jets
originally the Air Force had hoped to replace the Strike Eagle with a version of the f-22 Raptor but
those plans died when then Defense Secretary Robert Gates cancelled that program one senior
Air Force official suggested that the service should extend the production of the future lrs-b
stealth bomber to fill the gap but said that was his personal opinion rather than service policy
number one Lockheed Martin f-22 Raptor
hi flying and fast the Lockheed Martin f-22 Raptor stealth fighter is arguably the best
air superiority fighter in existence in many ways gaining and maintaining air superiority
as the core mission for the service only with absolute control of the air and space
can ground and sea surface elements maneuver unchallenged the f-22 is extremely stealthy
and is fitted with advanced avionics further it can cruise at supersonic speeds greater
than mach 1.8 at altitudes up to 60,000 feet for extended periods when operating at lower
speeds and altitudes it has the ability to vector thrust from its engines which gives it
tremendous maneuverability in short the Raptors combination of sheer speed altitude stealth and
powerful sensors makes it a lethal killer the problem for the Air Force is that there
are only 186 Raptors in its inventory less than half of what it needs of those 186 only 120 our
combat coded witches Air Force speak for ready for war there are only six operational Raptor
squadrons one operational training squadron and a handful of tests and training assets
at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and Edwards Air Force Base in California those squadrons are
also smaller than the typical Air Force fighter units Raptor squadrons only have 21 Jets and to
attrition reserve planes by contrast a typical fighter squadron normally has 24 Jets and two
spares the Air Force is starting to investigate follow-ons - the Raptor with the FX program you