US Air Force F-16 on a dark ramp during Agile Combat Employment training

Agile Combat Employment Explained: Why Air Forces Scatter Their Jets

by Connor Kerr | Oct 16, 2026 | Aviazione militare | 0 comments

A modern fighter is fast, stealthy and deadly in the air. On the ground it is a very expensive sitting duck. A few cruise missiles or a handful of cheap drones can wreck a squadron parked on one airfield before it ever takes off, as Russia learned at its bomber bases in June 2025 and again at Borisoglebsk this week.

The answer that Western air forces have settled on has a dry name: Agile Combat Employment, or ACE. Behind it is an old idea brought up to date. Do not keep all your jets in one place. Spread them out, keep them moving, and make the enemy guess where they are.

Informazioni rapide

Concetto: Agile Combat Employment (ACE)
US doctrine: Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21, released 14 December 2021
Definition: “A proactive and reactive operational scheme of maneuver” to increase survivability while generating combat power
Five elements: Posture, command and control, movement and maneuver, protection, sustainment
Typical model: Hub-and-spoke: a main base supports smaller civilian airports and austere strips
Fattore chiave: Multi-capable airmen trained beyond their own speciality
Cold War ancestor: Sweden’s Bas 60 and Bas 90 road-base systems
French version: FRA-ACE, practised at Pau and Dinard civil airports in 2026

What ACE Actually Means

The US Air Force wrote ACE into doctrine in Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21, released on 14 December 2021 and signed by the then Chief of Staff, General Charles Q. Brown Jr. It defines ACE as “a proactive and reactive operational scheme of maneuver” that lets forces increase their survivability while still generating combat power.

“requires a revolutionary change in how the Air Force thinks about and conducts operations”

Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21 — US Air Force, December 2021 (as quoted by Air & Space Forces Magazine)

In plain words, ACE shifts air operations from a few big, fixed bases to a network of smaller, dispersed locations. Analysts often describe it as hub-and-spoke. A large, well-defended base acts as the hub. Around it sit spokes: civilian airports, small military strips or even roads, where aircraft land, refuel, rearm and take off again, often within hours.

The doctrine rests on five elements: posture, command and control, movement and maneuver, protection, and sustainment. It also depends on people. Small teams of “multi-capable airmen”, trained to do jobs outside their own speciality, can turn a jet around at a remote spot without the full support staff of a home base.

F-16 refuelled by a fuel truck during exercise Rapid Weasel — A US Air Force F-16 is refuelled from a truck during exercise Rapid Weasel, a typical ACE scenario away from a jet’s home base. Photo: US Air Force / public domain

The Air Force’s own Air University has produced a short animation that shows how the pieces fit together:

Air University’s visual explainer on how Agile Combat Employment works.

Perché adesso?

ACE grew out of Pacific Air Forces in the years before the 2021 doctrine note, in response to threats from China, North Korea and Russia. The problem was simple: there were fewer main operating bases in the region, and new long-range missiles put those bases within reach. Concentrating aircraft made them an easy target. Dispersing them makes the enemy’s targeting harder and more expensive.

“This doctrine note represents another milestone in our ability to develop and leverage emerging doctrine.”

Maj. Gen. William G. Holt II — Commander, LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education, December 2021

The money followed. According to the US Congressional Research Service, the Department of the Air Force’s budget request for fiscal year 2025 identified $538 million for ACE, mostly for operations and maintenance. PACAF and US Air Forces in Europe have built ACE into their regular exercises, from the Pacific to the Baltic.

Air University’s introduction to Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21 on Agile Combat Employment.

Sweden Did It First

None of this would surprise a Swedish fighter pilot of the Cold War. In the 1950s Sweden designed Bas 60, a system of wartime bases with road runways 1,500 to 2,000 metres long and 12 metres wide, built mainly against the threat of nuclear attack. In the 1970s and 1980s it evolved into Bas 90, which added short runways of 800 by 17 metres, many of them on ordinary public roads, plus mobile ground crews and better communications.

Each Bas 90 base was planned to host a squadron of 8 to 12 aircraft. A ground crew unit of 15 people, six vehicles and four trailers looked after one aircraft. The Saab 37 Viggen and later the Gripen were designed with short take-offs and quick turnarounds in mind. The system was scaled back after the Cold War and scrapped in the 2000s. Interest in reclaiming former bases revived in 2017.

Saab SH 37 Viggen 37903 — A Saab SH 37 Viggen of F 13 Bråvalla. The Viggen was built to operate from Sweden’s dispersed road bases. Photo: Rune Rydh / Flygvapenmuseum / CC BY 4.0

Saab footage of a Gripen landing and taking off from a road base.

Europe Joins In

Other air forces are now following the same path. According to AeroTime, the Aeronautica e Spazio francese operated three Rafales and two CN235 transports from Pau Pyrénées and Dinard airports during its BASEX exercise from 23 September to 2 October 2026. It was the second year in a row that France had practised flying from civilian airports under FRA-ACE, its own version of the concept.

ACE is not cheap. Every dispersed site needs fuel, munitions, spare parts, security and communications, and the jets still need a protected hub somewhere. But the alternative has become clear. In an era of long-range missiles and drones launched from trucks, an air force that keeps all its aircraft in one place risks losing them before the fight even begins.

Sources: US Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21; Air & Space Forces Magazine; Congressional Research Service (IF12694); Wikipedia (Bas 90); AeroTime; Air University; Saab

Domande frequenti

Che cos'è l'impiego agile in combattimento?

Agile Combat Employment (ACE) is a concept for operating air power from many dispersed locations instead of a few large bases. US Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21 defines it as a proactive and reactive operational scheme of maneuver that increases survivability while generating combat power.

When did the US Air Force adopt Agile Combat Employment?

The US Air Force released its first doctrine on Agile Combat Employment, Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21, on 14 December 2021. It was signed by the then Chief of Staff, General Charles Q. Brown Jr. The concept had been developed by Pacific Air Forces in the years before.

What are the five elements of Agile Combat Employment?

Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21 lists five core elements of Agile Combat Employment: posture, command and control, movement and maneuver, protection, and sustainment.

What is the hub-and-spoke model in Agile Combat Employment?

In the hub-and-spoke model, a large and well-defended base acts as a hub that supports smaller spoke locations such as civilian airports, small military strips or roads. Aircraft use the spokes to land, refuel, rearm and take off, which makes them harder for an enemy to target.

What was Sweden’s Bas 90 system?

Bas 90 was a Swedish Air Force base system developed in the 1970s and 1980s to disperse aircraft across many wartime bases. It added short runways of 800 by 17 metres, often on public roads, to the earlier Bas 60 road runways. It was scaled back after the Cold War and scrapped in the 2000s.

Does France use Agile Combat Employment?

Yes. France calls its version FRA-ACE. During its BASEX exercise from 23 September to 2 October 2026, the French Air and Space Force operated three Rafales and two CN235 transports from Pau Pyrénées and Dinard civil airports, the second year in a row it practised such deployments.