Aerospace Power:

An Imperative for the Nation

Independent, nonpartisan policy research institute established to provide creative, insightful policy options that better empower our nation's leaders

Aerospace Power for the 21st Century

Aerospace power affords individuals at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of the national security enterprise highly effective options to deter adversaries, reassure allies, and project war-winning capabilities. In an era where the severity and volume of advanced threats is on a sharp ascent, these capabilities are exceedingly important. However, robust aerospace power is not a guarantee. It takes prudent leadership, an insightful vision, and dedicated investment.

Learn More

Capabilities

Surviving and Succeeding in Today’s Threat Environment

With the threat environment growing far more dangerous, aerospace capabilities once considered survivable and resilient are now increasingly unable to execute their missions. Adversaries are defending their own territory with increasingly sophisticated surface-to-air missile systems, fighter aircraft, and electronic warfare systems. They are also projecting power far forward, leaving US operating bases at risk. This demands significant changes regarding aerospace force composition, strategies, operational concepts, and tactics.
Read More

Effective, Efficient Operations

With the threat environment growing far more dangerous, aerospace capabilities once considered survivable and resilient are now increasingly unable to execute their missions.
Read More

Understanding Information-Age Aerospace Operations

Aerospace power in the modern age also demands far more than the traditional tools of power—aircraft, satellites, and munitions. Just as civilian society has revolutionized the way in which it interacts with information through smart phones and ubiquitous connectivity, so too have military aerospace missions.
Read More

Our Research

1,763 Air Force F-35 Procurement Requirement to Outpace Advancing Threats

Flying & Fighting in the Modern Age

Employing successful modern combat aerospace power today and in the future demands questioning long-standing assumptions and seeking smarter ways of achieving desired mission goals.
Click Here for More Information
270 The Number of Bombers Required to Meet Real-World Demand

Future Trends

Individuals engaging in tomorrow’s aerospace domain, whether at the tactical, operational, or strategic levels, will face a future far different than what they experienced in the past. The last century saw aerospace power ascend in the industrial age, when the state of the art was governed by mechanical prowess.
Click Here for More Information
29.2 Average Age of an Aircraft in the Air Force Inventory

Dollars and Sense

The US Air Force is embarking upon a crucial modernization cycle. Presently, airmen are flying combat missions in aircraft that average over a quarter of a century in age. Said another way, many pilots are younger than the aircraft in which they are taking into the sky.
Click Here for More Information
386 The Number of Operational Squadrons Required by the US Air Force

Additional Resources

Learn more from our additional resources of studies, policy papers, forums, and other featured news articles.
View All
The Future of Aerospace Capabilities Here Today

Latest News

Media - News | Oct 03, 2019

The B-2 Bomber Has More Firepower Than an Aircraft Carrier

“The B-2 is one of the most game-changing aircraft ever built…and one of the most cost-effective. One B-2 can deliver the punch of an entire aircraft carrier air wing at several orders of magnitude less in operating cost and personnel,” Deptula said. When B-2 stealth bombers attacked Serbia on the opening night of Operation Allied […]
Read More
View All