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U.S. Army Airborne Forces Could Play a Pivotal Role in Key Missions in the Future, Particularly Against Hybrid Threats and in Anti-Access Environments, but Could Face New Threats

• Army airborne forces are unique in their ability to deploy quickly from the continental United States via U.S. Air Force transport aircraft, including to locations deep inland and beyond the reach of maritime forces operating in littoral regions.
• Airborne forces will likely face increasingly sophisticated anti-access threats and will require increased options for quickly and safely delivering personnel and equipment to these challenging areas of operations.

A Light Armored Infantry Capability That Can be Airdropped by Parachute or Air-Landed at an Airfield Would Provide Airborne Forces with Increased Speed, Mobility, Survivability, and Firepower

• Specifically, such a capability could support missions to counter anti-access/area denial in hybrid environments, counter or secure weapons of mass destruction, counter terrorism or insurgencies, conduct noncombatant evacuation operations with support from air assets, conduct complex humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, rapidly establish an enclave (e.g., to prevent genocide), and rapidly interpose a peacekeeping force in a time-sensitive situation. Enhanced airborne capabilities could also offer decisionmakers better options to stabilize potential conflicts more quickly and prevent them from escalating.
• Although airborne forces currently conduct many of these operations, enhancements to the force would greatly expand that ability.
• Given the Army's near-term requirements and the need to consider extant equipment, the Light Armored Vehicle, second generation (LAV-II), family of vehicles appears to be the most promising candidate platform for enabling an airborne force to achieve its objectives.

At the request of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, a RAND research team examined options to increase the mobility, protection, and firepower of the Army's airborne forces, given likely future missions and threats, identifying a concept for enhancing today's forces by adding a light armored infantry capability. Because the Army requested near-term options, the new concept incorporates equipment and platforms that are already available within the U.S. Department of Defense. The near-term focus also meant that the current Air Force airlift fleet was an important consideration, since Army airborne forces rely on Air Force transport aircraft to deploy. The research team examined notional future brigade- and battalion-sized airborne units, including the numbers and types of vehicles that would be needed to create an airborne light armored force that could be airdropped or air-landed from Air Force transport planes. The primary light armored vehicle possibilities studied were the Stryker (currently used by the Army) and the Light Armored Vehicle, second generation (LAV-II, used by the Marine Corps and the militaries of several other nations). Each family of vehicles would have advantages and disadvantages for the Army's airborne force, with the LAV-II provisionally identified as the preferred candidate. A tabletop exercise with subject-matter experts, using scenarios developed through a review of historical Army missions, identified how the addition of light armor could enhance the performance of airborne units.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Overview of the Current Airborne Force

• Chapter Three

  Threats to Today's Airborne Forces

• Chapter Four

  A Proposed Airborne Light Armored Infantry Force

• Chapter Five

  Airlift Issues and Requirements

• Chapter Six

  Potential Uses for Airborne Light Armored Infantry Forces

• Chapter Seven

  Issues Related to the Implementation of the New Concept

• Chapter Eight

  Conclusions and Recommendations

• Appendix A

  LAV-II Family of Vehicles

• Appendix B

  Stryker- and LAV-Based Airborne Light Armored Infantry Brigade TOEs

• Appendix C

  C-5, C-17, and C-130 Capabilities

• Appendix D

  Dimensions, Weight, Number of Vehicles for C-17 Airdrop