As Brown sees things, airpower will be a critical factor in combat on the “non-linear” battlefield, a fluid, constantly shifting space devoid of lines and tidy “front” and “rear” areas. Airpower, in his view, delivers three essential elements—mobility, flexibility, and rapid response. All will be needed if small, highly specialized groups of ground troops are going to prevail in combat. He thinks the new V-22 Osprey (recently approved for production) will greatly improve SOF flexibility. The Air Force is supposed to buy about 50 of them over the next several years.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.