While 10 years of conflict in Southwest Asia have now occurred under the assumption of air superiority and sea control, the capabilities of potential adversaries are rendering many of these operational concepts obsolete in the Pacific, said Gen. Gary North, Pacific Air Forces commander. Airspace over Afghanistan and Iraq was initially contested, but became permissive in a relatively short order of time, North told the audience Thursday at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium and Technology Exposition in Orlando, Fla. But today US forces and those of allied nations must contend elsewhere with more sophisticated air defense networks.
When the 119th Congress took office in January 2025, it counted a record seven former Navy SEALs among its members—and just one former Air Force fighter pilot. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), a former F-15 and F-22 pilot, says that must change to help the Air Force get the resources it…
