Central ND News

Over the past few years, the U.S. Air Force has been rapidly retiring its legacy airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms without demonstrating how new technologies can effectively replace them. This approach raises concerns about the increased risk for Combatant Commanders and the reduced ability for civilian policymakers to make informed decisions.

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer, joined by colleagues Jeanne Shaheen, Deb Fischer, Mark Kelly, and Tim Kaine, who are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, addressed this issue in a bipartisan letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The letter expresses their worries about the Air Force's accelerated retirement of ISR capabilities and emphasizes the importance of these platforms. Cramer had previously led a similar letter to then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

"In the pursuit of other modernization efforts beyond ISR, and possibly an overly-optimistic prediction of what space can quickly execute, the Air Force is aggressively retiring its current inventory of airborne ISR platforms without investing in replacement capabilities," the letter states. "At the current rate of investment and divestment, the Air Force will eventually have more lethal tools, but they leave the military with fewer tools to know what they are striking and fewer tools for policymakers to know if they should be striking something at all."

The senators are troubled by the Air Force's pattern of "cutting ISR in order to meet other aspirations" and its determination to reduce its airborne ISR capabilities. The retirement list includes the MC-12 Liberty, MQ-1 Predator, E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 20s and 30s, and the MQ-9 Block 1. Furthermore, the Air Force has discontinued the procurement of MQ-9As, announced the retirement of the U-2 Dragon Lady, and begun reducing the U-2 training infrastructure. Despite these reductions, no new replacements have been announced to bridge the gap created by these retirements.

"The importance of ISR cannot be overstated," the letter continues. "Whether it's getting President Kennedy the information necessary during the Cuban missile crisis, getting our allies and partners what they need to maintain the peace of the Camp David Accords, or feeding and completing the kill chain against near peer adversaries and Violent Extremist Organizations (VEO), ISR provides the information necessary for the decision makers at every level. It is no accident ISR is listed as one of the Air Force's Core Functions."

The anticipation is for an open evaluation of the U.S. Air Force's obligation to sustain ISR capabilities, with the senators ready to assist in finding a viable solution.

The letter is available for review online.