Future US Air Force 2034

The United States Air Force must be set up to fight a conventional war against a major power in the Pacific region in the years leading up to 2034. Frontline aircraft need to conform to specifications that were laid out at the end of the Cold War. Penetrating fighter and bomber aircraft must have supercruise capability, have Mach 2.5+ performance, have long range, be low observable, with sensors/electronics consisting of current generation AESA radar, radar jammers and all around IR cameras. Total numbers of aircraft will be:

2410 Fighters (specialised and multirole/tactical)
634   Bombers (strategic strike and tactical) 
484   UCAV drones (multirole, strike and tactical)
340   Close Air Support (COIN) aircraft
1140 Training Aircraft (multirole and COIN)

The expanded list below includes AWACS aircraft (E-3s along with AEW Drones), but omits tankers, intelligence gathering aircraft and other supporting platforms:


AIR SUPERIORITY, STRIKE AND ELECTRONIC WARFARE (Plus AWACS support)

(850+) FA-XX/F-23A “Grey Ghost” Air Superiority fighters - with extreme range and speed, using variable cycle engines, whilst also being super maneuverable. In addition to their standard weapons load the aircraft will be equipped with short range self defence, anti-missile missiles, and include all around IR sensors for use when jamming reduces radar detection ranges. These aircraft replace the F-15C and F-35A.

(180+) F-22C Raptors - upgraded with new engines and IR sensors.

(200+) UCAV Strike Fighter Drones (either supersonic or subsonic platforms) - for long range strike, picket line air defence, and recon. The number of these aircraft could be doubled or tripled. 

(250) FB-23A Medium Bombers - filling the role of the F-111, with bomb bay buddy-buddy refueling capability to be used in operations near contested airspace in support of FA-XX fighters. These aircraft must also be able to conduct manned recon flights, if necessary, when drone aircraft become inoperable due to hacking or jamming. They will also be equipped with long and extreme short range self defence missiles.  

(64) EB-23As Electronic Warfare Aircraft - filling the role of the EF-111A Raven.


(160+) Long Range Strategic Strike Bombers - a Mach 3 delta shaped aircraft necessary for effective cruise missile launch area positioning and contested airspace penetration. The aircraft is intended to replace the B-1B and will also be used for long range maritime strike.

(224) B-21 Raiders - to replace the B-52 and B-2 bombers, with a maritime strike capability. Final numbers of Raiders versus the more effective Mach 3 bomber could be reversed (224 v 160).

(32+) Hypersonic Recon Drones - for use in contested airspace in the event satellite systems are down using RADAR, LIDAR and Photo/IR mapping systems.  

(62) AEW Drones - are to be deployed ahead of controlling AWACs aircraft using radar and IRST sensors, and armed with self-defence anti-missile missiles, and pods with 2 or more Meteor missiles.

(31) E-3(X) Sentry AWACS - upgraded with additional IRST sensors and self-defence anti-missile missiles, and pods with 4 or more Meteor missiles.

TACTICAL AIR and TRAINING (Multirole aircraft ) - this force will be operating under the air umbrella protection afforded by F-23s and F-22s and is to engage in the sustained destruction of opposition ground forces.

(300+) F-15X Eagles - to be used as multi-role bomb trucks.

(500) F-16V Vipers (or better) - to be used as multi-role bomb trucks.

(540) F-35A Lightings - to be used as multi-role bomb trucks, in higher threat environments/missions.

(250) MQ-9 Reaper Drones - for battlefield support and COIN operations.

(200+) A-10C Thunderbolts - extensively upgraded for continued use in the battlefield support/COIN role.

(140+) OV-10X Super Broncos - for use in COIN operations 

(650) TX Trainers - with limited multirole air-to-air/air-to-ground capability.

(450+) Embraer Super Tucanos (or equivalent trainers) - to be made available for COIN operations, where needed, in addition to pilot training.

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Please note that many of the equipment choices here focus on the need to support ground forces once air superiority has been achieved. Being able to draw on a large inventory of aircraft to use in the ground support role is important when the situation is dire, as we saw in the Korean War and recently in Syria (via Russian and Syrian Air power). Furthermore, large numbers of manned aircraft will still be required since drones can be hacked or have their control signals jammed.