But also, the new emphasis on EA and SEAD has been borne of choices made by the Air Force itself, largely due to budgetary pressures.
“Originally, USAF wanted to be an all fifth-gen force, with no need of Electronic Attack/SEAD. Then, it was a division of labor—fifth-gen for kicking down the door; legacy assets for day two and beyond,” Aboulafia explained. “But it’s increasingly clear that the Navy will have very little fifth-gen, and that they’ll need to cooperate. And given the F-15 procurement re-start, it’s clear that the Air Force will need to work with fourth-gen platforms in many roles for many decades to come.”