Editing Rockwell B-1 Lancer (section)

===Shifting priorities===
[[File:USAF B-1A Lancer.JPEG|thumb|upright=1.4|A Rockwell B-1A in 1984 |alt= A right side view of a B-1A on the ground in 1984]]

It was during this period that the Soviets started to assert themselves in several new theaters of action, in particular through [[Cuban intervention in Angola|Cuban proxies]] during the [[Angolan Civil War]] starting in 1975 and the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]] in 1979. U.S. strategy to this point had been focused on [[containment|containing]] [[Communism]] and preparation for war in Europe. The new Soviet actions revealed that the military lacked capability outside these narrow confines.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gibbs |first=David |date=1987 |title=Does the USSR Have a 'Grand Strategy'? Reinterpreting the Invasion of Afghanistan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/424428 |journal=Journal of Peace Research |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=365–379 |doi=10.1177/002234338702400404 |jstor=424428 |issn=0022-3433}}</ref>

The U.S. Department of Defense responded by accelerating its [[United States Rapid Deployment Forces|Rapid Deployment Forces]] concept but suffered from major problems with airlift and sealift capability.<ref>{{cite book|last=Moore|first=John Leo|title=U.S. Defense Policy: Weapons, Strategy, and Commitments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qcQdAAAAMAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Congressional Quarterly|isbn=978-0-87187-158-9|pages=65, 79|access-date=22 October 2019|archive-date=8 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208140041/https://books.google.com/books?id=qcQdAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> In order to slow an enemy invasion of other countries, air power was critical; however the key Iran-Afghanistan border was outside the range of the [[United States Navy]]'s carrier-based attack aircraft, leaving this role to the U.S. Air Force.

During the 1980 presidential campaign, [[Ronald Reagan]] campaigned heavily on the platform that Carter was weak on defense, citing the cancellation of the B-1 program as an example, a theme he continued using into the 1980s.<ref>Reagan, President Ronald. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070317181440/http://www.presidentreagan.info/speeches/address_to_nation/1984_10_20.cfm "Reagan's Radio Address to the Nation on Foreign Policy."]}} ''presidentreagan.info''. 20 October 1984.</ref> During this time Carter's defense secretary, [[Harold Brown (Secretary of Defense)|Harold Brown]], announced the stealth bomber project, apparently implying that this was the reason for the B-1 cancellation.<ref name="Schwartz p.120">{{harvnb|Schwartz|1998|p=120.}}</ref>{{verify source|date=January 2021}}