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The U.S. military's current general airlift forces are suitable for the majority of counterinsurgency missions, but need substantial reinvestment and some realignment in order to be most effective, according to a Rand Corporation study.

"The core argument we are making is that many of the strategic challenges that the U.S. faces in the future are likely to include a high proportion of counterinsurgency," said Karl Mueller, co-author of the report and a political scientist at Rand. "So when we think about restructuring, or recapitalizing U.S. airlift capabilities, meeting the requirements of counterinsurgency operations is going to be an important part of what we want to be able to do. But having these capabilities does not involve remaking the force, it involves which capabilities do you really need and what is the best way to meet them."

Experience in past counterinsurgencies suggests that the United States needs to re-establish a capability to move modest loads within a combat area into short and undeveloped airfields reliably and cost effectively, the study said. This may call for acquisition of an "assault airlifter" with true short-takeoff-and-landing, rough-field capability.

Such an aircraft might replicate the characteristics of the Vietnam-era C-7 Caribou, which could carry three-ton loads into fields less than 1000 feet long. However, the availability of new technologies, such as unmanned aircraft and satellite-guided cargo parachutes, should be taken into account in deciding whether purchasing a new transport aircraft is necessary for such missions, according to the Rand report.

The report, "Airlift Capabilities for Future U.S. Counterinsurgency Operations," was produced by Rand Project AIR FORCE, a federally funded research and development center for studies and analysis aimed at providing independent policy alternatives for the U.S. Air Force.

The Rand Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world.