At the recent Air Power Conference (Doha, Qatar, 1-2 November 2010), Chris Chadwick, President of Boeing Military Aircraft, said air forces are moving from traditional air strike roles to broader collaboration with larger coalition countries and their militaries.
“The opportunity is growing for smaller tactical air forces, when combined with the right mix of well-connected logistics and strike aircraft, to contribute as much or more to coalition efforts as have much larger air forces,” Chadwick said.
Chadwick also told the conference that there are global challenges affecting existing air power structures. “The world economy, aging air force inventories, obsolescence of some of the hardware and the need for some coalition governments to do more with less are all helping change the existing force structure of air power,” Chadwick said.
“To recapitalize the forces to meet the challenges, air forces will need to look to enhancements in tactical aircraft, rotorcraft and mobility aircraft that are cost and performance certain, low-risk, provide evolutionary capability enhancements, and are flexible in their applications and provide connectivity on the battlefield,” Chadwick added.
Commenting on the growing presence of Boeing platforms and systems among the coalition air forces, Chadwick told the conference that “there is no better company in the world to partner with than Boeing. We will provide an enduring partnership with our coalition force customers and have the ingredients to provide force-structure recapitalization.”
Chadwick’s remarks at the Air Power Conference were made during a stop in Qatar during a multi-day visit to the Middle East region. In Qatar, Boeing has delivered 2 C-17 Globemaster III airlifters to the Qatar Emiri Air Force – in August and September 2009. Since their delivery, Qatar has used the C-17s extensively in humanitarian aid missions, including flights to deliver aid to victims of the Haiti and Chile earthquakes.