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This research report was originally submitted to
the Air Force Fellows Program in partial fulfillment
of the graduation requirements. The conclusions
and opinions expressed in this article are those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
official policy or position of the U.S. Government,
Department of Defense, The Air University, or the
Mitchell Insitute for Aerospace Studies.
No. 57
June 2025
The Mitchell Forum
Reclaiming Air Superiority: The Urgent Case for
Air Battle Management in Near-Peer Rivalry
by Lt Col Grant M. Georgulis, USAF
Foreword
As an ocer in the United States Air Force, I have witnessed the
transition from post-Cold War era of assumed airpower supremacy to one
where control of the skies must once again be fought for and won. For the past
two decades, counterinsurgency operations in areas with permissive airspace
allowed U.S. forces to treat air superiority—and the air battle management
that enables it—as a constant. at time has passed. Near-peer adversaries,
chief among them China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF),
now wield capabilities that challenge our air dominance, forcing us to revisit
the foundational conditions of air control embedded in our doctrine. is
paper explores a pressing need to reinforce one such condition—temporal air
superiority. e sustained yet time-bound control that air battle management
secures alongside combat aircraft is critical in today’s contested environments.
My motivation draws from history: the Battle of Britain’s exploitation
of radar-guided air battle management and Operation DESERT STORM’s
demonstration of air battle management’s decisive edge in an age of precision
still hold valuable lessons for airmen. e importance of these lessons is apparent
today as the U.S. Air Force faces a widening capability gap while adversaries
like China outpace our modernization eorts. As of May 2025, critical air
battle management platforms like the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack
Radar System (JSTARS) is retired, the E-3 AWACS barely holds on to tactical
relevance, and the E-7 AEW&C is still years from full deployment. Meanwhile
in the Indo-Pacic, China’s advancing AEW&C platforms and anti-access
strategies demand a robust, doctrine-driven response. Facing peer threats in the
pivotal theater, the U.S. Air Force nds itself at a critical juncture.
is work is a rallying cry for the USAF, Congress, and our allies. It
contends that air battle management remains the linchpin of air superiority.
Systems like the E-3, CRCs, other emerging ground air battle management
platforms, and soon the E-7 must pair with fth-generation and future
sixth-generation ghters like the F-47 to reclaim control when and where it
matters most. In a time when the space domain is also coming into its own
