{"id":27705,"date":"2015-12-18T09:02:35","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T09:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/12\/18\/air-force-nuclear-war-game-tests-future-bomber-fleet\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:13:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:13:48","slug":"air-force-nuclear-war-game-tests-future-bomber-fleet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2015\/12\/18\/air-force-nuclear-war-game-tests-future-bomber-fleet\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force Nuclear War Game Tests Future Bomber Fleet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0It is the year 2030, and the US Air Force is facing a nuclear war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eighty-year-old B-52s, armed with the latest standoff weapons, patrol the skies. Shiny new intercontinental ballistic missiles stand at the ready. And the stealthy Long Range Strike-Bomber slips past enemy defenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, Air Force Global Strike Command conducted a large-scale nuclear war game at Maxwell Air Force Base, designed to assess whether the Air Force is developing and fielding the right kinds of capabilities to meet future threats. The exercise explored AFGSC&#8217;s ability to operate across the full spectrum of a nuclear conflict, from conventional to nuclear strike missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We want to wargame the entirety of our capabilities,&#8221; Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Stoss, AFGSC&#8217;s director for requirements, plans and programs, told Defense News in an interview here Dec. 9. &#8220;We want to see if we are getting the bang for the buck we need.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force&#8217;s plan to modernize its nuclear force includes building a next-generation bomber \u2014\u00a0the LRS-B \u2014\u00a0upgrading the existing fleet of B-1, B-52 and stealthy B-2 bombers, and replacing the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with a Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AFGSC&#8217;s war game, conducted Dec. 7 through 10 here at the Air Force Wargaming Institute, was designed to help the Air Force find better ways to use the future force in the battlefield, Stoss explained. AFGSC commander Gen. Robin Rand will evaluate the findings, and decide whether to &#8220;elevate&#8221; them to top leadership, Stoss said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The purpose of this wargaming center is our customers \u2014 the warfighters of the world \u2014 have a problem they want explored, they come to us and we can quickly give them some answers and give them some real facts and analysis and data behind what choices they might want to make,&#8221; said Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, Air University commander, in a Dec. 10 interview. &#8220;That&#8217;s what Gen. Rand and the Global Strike Command were able to achieve using the muscle of thinking here at Air University.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1602\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635859797756053380-2334614jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59898\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635859797756053380-2334614jpg.jpg 2500w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635859797756053380-2334614jpg.jpg?resize=300,192 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635859797756053380-2334614jpg.jpg?resize=768,492 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635859797756053380-2334614jpg.jpg?resize=1024,656 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635859797756053380-2334614jpg.jpg?resize=1536,984 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635859797756053380-2334614jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1312 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A B-2 Spirit launches from the runway during an exercise at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., Nov. 8, 2015. The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. Its low-observable, or &#8220;stealth,&#8221; characteristics give it the unique ability to penetrate an enemy&#8217;s most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most valued, and heavily defended, targets. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Miguel Lara III)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>A B-2 Spirit takes off Nov. 8 during an exercise at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Photo Credit: Tech. Sgt. Miguel Lara III\/US Air Force<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stoss declined to give certain details on the war\u00a0game, for instance what nations are involved, but said commanders were finding value in a &#8220;mixed force&#8221; \u2014 using legacy and <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">as well as <\/span>future platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Operators imagined a 2030 scenario where the Air Force\u2019s fleet of B-52s are upgraded with the Link 16 communications network, an enhanced radar, improved standoff weapons, and re-engined for <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">a <\/span>25 percent greater range. Meanwhile, all of the B-1s have completed a full Integrated Battle Station (IBS) upgrade \u2014 which includes a modern data link communications network<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, as well as<\/span> and other equipment improvements \u2014 as well as an engine upgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force has also modernized all of the B-2s with a new defensive management system, including a new graphics processor and new antennas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the exercise, commanders found the upgraded B-52 can &#8220;easily&#8221; fly to 2050 and beyond, Stoss said, which would make some of the planes 100 years old. But although the future Stratofortress can launch missiles into contested territory from standoff distances, its ability to actually operate in that environment is limited, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In some cases, the Air Force needs that &#8220;leap into the future&#8221; that comes with a next-generation platform like LRS-B, particularly to operate in contested battle space, Stoss stressed.\u00a0Operators need some number of new LRS-Bs &#8220;to provide enhanced capability to operate in the anti-access\/aerial-denial environment,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the second time AFGSC has conducted a nuclear war game. The first, which took place in December 2013, was a &#8220;nascent&#8221; effort, while the most recent iteration was &#8220;the real deal,&#8221; Stoss said. Air Force officials intended to do the second event sooner, but it was delayed due to sequestration cuts, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Top military officials, like Kwast, US Strategic Command chief Adm. Cecil Haney and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh have recently re-emphasized nuclear war-gaming as a way to enhance strategic thinking across the service, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.afgsc.af.mil\/News\/ArticleDisplay\/tabid\/2612\/Article\/629692\/war-game-helps-reinvigorate-nuclear-strategic-thinking.aspx\">an Air Force statement.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order to more rapidly provide critical advice to leadership facing a dynamic world, Kwast&#8217;s team at Air University is taking advantage of modern technologies to speed up the pace of war-gaming, he told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We take this war-gaming muscle of thinking and we just do it more rapidly.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, s<\/span> So instead of having to spend a lot of money and a lot of time preparing, and then being very slow at giving advice to our national leaders, we can do it very quickly,&#8221; Kwast said.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> &#8220;<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">b<\/span>But with the same analytic rigor and the same precision, because we\u2019re taking advantage of computing technologies and simulation technologies, modeling technologies, coding technologies.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Email:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:lseligman@defensenews.com\">lseligman@defensenews.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Twitter:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/laraseligman\">@laraseligman<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is the year 2030, and the US Air Force is facing a nuclear war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":50066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1820],"class_list":["post-27705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-home"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PXX5VDJ7BBD6NDEFJNDUIW7IOQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/2015\/12\/18\/air-force-nuclear-war-game-tests-future-bomber-fleet\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is 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