The Air Force needs to find a proper home for electronic warfare, said retired Gen. Larry Welch during AWS16 on Thursday. “One of the biggest problems with electronic warfare is that we don’t know who owns it, where it fits. It’s not cyber,” said Welch. Though some have suggested the service should create a new domain specifically for EW, Welch said he doesn’t necessarily think that’s the answer, “but I do know that the Air Force has been particularly remiss in not doing enough of electronic warfare,” especially considering the gains Russia and China have made and “quite frankly, what the [US] Navy has done,” he added.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.