As the special report beginning on p. 50 points out, the U.S. Air Force is trying to integrate all aspects of IW into combat commands. Available or within reach are means to deny, exploit, corrupt or destroy an adversary's key information systems. But without flashy hardware and striking images of their operations, information warriors face a difficult time competing for scarce budget dollars. An F-16 flying is an impressive sight. You can't see powerful and sophisticated software doing its work in cyberspace.
Tactical aircraft are far from obsolete.
To shortchange the efforts in this new realm would be a perilous mistake. Air Force officials say that with a few tens of million of dollars, they could follow through on plans to develop, refine and test some key tools needed for ''information operations'' they now envision. It would be shortsighted in the extreme for the U.S. to fail to arm itself with the virtual weapons it surely will need in the 21st century, all for the want of the funds it spends on a single 20th century fighter. Developing offensive IW capabilities is only part of what must be done. At least as important is defending the information technologies upon which Western nations depend so heavily.