United States Air Force Rpa Vector

"[This document] balances the effects envisioned in the USAF Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047 with the reality of constrained resources and ambitious national strategy for a complex world. More importantly, as a visionary document, the RPA Vector opens the aperture beyond current austere fiscal realities to explore art of the possible technologies in the 2013-2038 timeframe. The intent is to examine technological advances necessary to enable the Air Force's future RPA force. The large-scale, complex, force-on-force scenarios that drove much of the military's 'traditional' approach to planning are no longer sustainable. The Air Force will continue to plan in an effort to prepare for potential scenarios, whatever they may be. The Joint force will need to be smaller, leaner, adaptable, and make selective investments to meet its missions for United States national security at home and abroad, and the Air Force will play a significant role in this effort. RPA and the effects they provide will continue to have an important role as we rebalance the force toward the Asia-Pacific region. The essential problem for future joint forces will be to project military force into an operational area and sustain it in the face of armed opposition."--Executive summary, page iii.