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.
As the threat of Iranian-made drones grew, the Air Force rushed last year to equip F-15E Strike Eagles in the Middle East with a cheap, cost-effective way of defeating them. The service fielded the new capability in roughly a week.
