Warplanes: October 10, 2000

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rest of the building.--Stephen V Cole

Facing the reality of not enough air transports or fast ships to get many ground troops to a future hot spot, the Pentagon has come up with a strategy using what is available. The air force has bombers (B-52s and B-2s) and the navy usually has carriers, and a battalion or two of marines, in the neighborhood. These can be on the scene with bombs within 24 hours (or less.) There are also over a dozen reconnaissance satellites that can be moved to the trouble spot to obtain more information on what the hostiles are up to. The army also has commandoes (Special Forces, Rangers and the like) who can be put on the ground in a day or two. The lightly armed ground troops would serve mainly to spot targets for the bombers. The army has a division of paratroopers who could be on the scene within a week (if the Air Force was able to scrounge up the transports.) The bombers would be using smart bombs, so there would be considerable bang for the buck. The new concept is called "Global Reconnaissance Strike." Not very good for peacekeeping, but if you want to perform the traditional "kill people and break things" mission, it could

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