United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-01-03 monographic deposited born digital 25 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-28 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-28 P0b002ee180387b6c f:d0128 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-28 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-28 GAO-01-28 Electronic warfare Military aircraft Weapons systems Defense capabilities Air defense systems Surface to air missiles F-4G Aircraft EF-111 Aircraft F-16C/J Aircraft EA-6B Aircraft F-117 Aircraft Letter Report To suppress enemy air defenses, U.S. armed forces use specialized aircraft designed to neutralize, destroy, or temporarily degrade enemy air defense systems through either physical attack or electronic warfare. Concerns have been raised that the Air Force's decision to retire EF-111 and F-4G suppression aircraft, combined with a growing threat from increasingly sophisticated enemy air defenses, has created a gap between the services' suppression capabilities and their needs. GAO (1) examined the steps that the military has taken since 1996 to improve its ability to suppress enemy air defenses and (2) evaluated the services' plans to eliminate any gap between their suppression capabilities and needs. GAO found that the services have improved their suppression capabilities, such as increasing the size of their fleets of F-16CJ and EA-6B suppression aircraft, improving the electronic warfare and missile systems on these aircrafts, studying cost-effective alternatives for suppression in the future, and reviewing electronic warfare programs to determine if these programs are adequately managed, prioritized, and funded. However, GAO also found that current suppression capabilities are not adequate and that no comprehensive, cross-service strategy exists for achieving the suppression mission. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-28/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-28.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-28/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-28.pdf GAO-01-28 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-28 Letter Report GAO-01-28; Electronic Warfare: Comprehensive Strategy Needed for; Electronic warfare Military aircraft Weapons systems Defense capabilities Air defense systems Surface to air missiles F-4G Aircraft EF-111 Aircraft F-16C/J Aircraft EA-6B Aircraft F-117 Aircraft