Fold the Air Force?

If only terrorists used fleets of fighter jets and submarines.

The post-Cold War, post-9/11 world has been rough on the Air Force and the Navy. The Long War is being fought primarily by the infantry in a country-insurgency struggle, while the most expensive weapons programs, multi-billion dollar ships and multi-billion dollar aircraft programs, justify their existence by the threat of high-tech rival countries. But these threats barely exist anymore. The Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact are almost 20 years removed. China is a rising superpower but is intertwined economically with America. North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela are minor league players who will never field a fleet of warships or bombers to threaten us. And the biggest threat to world peace are religious terrorists with a medieval mindset but no aircraft carriers.

So how much are you willing to pay, decade after decade, for weapon systems that only meant to intimidate potential enemies?

The Navy may lose a few capital ships in coming decades and discover new cheaper and more practical missions close to shore in the littoral zone. But some folks are openly discussing folding the Air Force back into the Army from which it came sixty years ago. It would save money and bring under control a branch whose wandering leaders seem to be ignoring the current conflict while pining away for a shooting war with China, or even a bombing of Iran, to justify their expensive purchases.

As an aviation nut I love new planes and technology but now that the "cheap" F-35 may cost over $100 million per plane the Air Force may be pricing itself out of existence. Has it finally gotten completely out of control? Wouldn't those billions be better spent on the Army and Marines or perhaps not at all? Perhaps the Air Force should focus more on outer space and cyberspace and leave the transportation and ground support to the Army and Navy?