The Falcon and the Trident

The world of 1948, in which two antagonistic superpowers had emerged from a global conflict ended by atomic weapons, contrasts sharply with the world of 1994, where only one superpower has survived the Cold War into a world where a wide array of sources of conflict exists, with few seemingly resolvable by nuclear force. However, for the United States Air Force and United States Navy, which have struggled for status, if not for outright preeminence since the end of World War II, the "New World Disorder" has provoked a new struggle for roles and missions. The two highest of the high-tech services, each equipped with the most elaborate, effective and expensive aircraft in the world designed primarily to deter or defeat an enemy now in decline, are now facing the combination of an expanding mission and shrinking budget.