Blue Horizons Study Assesses Future Capabilities and Technologies for the United States Air Force

  • Authors:

  • John P. Geis;Gregory S. Parnell;Harry Newton;Terry Bresnick

  • Affiliations:

  • United States Air Force Center for Strategy and Technology, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama 36112;Department of Systems Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York 10996/ Innovative Decisions, Inc., Vienna, Virginia 22182;Innovative Decisions, Inc., Vienna, Virginia 22182;Innovative Decisions, Inc., Vienna, Virginia 22182

  • Venue:
  • Interfaces
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

The purpose of the Blue Horizons study was to determine the capabilities and technologies in which the United States Air Force would need to invest to maintain dominant air, space, and cyberspace capabilities in the year 2030. The study used two methodologies, scenario analysis and multiobjective decision analysis, to evaluate 58 future-system concepts and 172 key enabling technologies. The paper outlines the study's key conclusions and recommendations to the Air Force, including recommendations on how future concepts and technologies would help it to prepare for disparate potential challenges, such as rising peer competitors, the problem of failed states, and continued insurgencies in far-flung parts of the world.