For some 60 years, the Air Force—because it possessed heavy bombers—has dominated conventional long-range strike, but that could change. The QDR report made it abundantly clear that the Pentagon would like to see the Navy enter the LRS arena. It has ordered a change of course in the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program, the goal being the development of “an unmanned, longer-range, carrier-based aircraft capable of being air-refueled to provide greater standoff capability, to expand payload and launch options, and to increase naval reach and persistence.” Presumably, such systems could operate from either big deck carriers or submarines.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
