Air Power in War

Air power has been particularly important at the tactical and operational levels. It has also been seen as a strategic tool, even if bringing this element to fruition has proved very difficult; and difficult, moreover, for the range of states that have sought to pursue this means. The debates about what air power can provide have taken considerably different directions based on whether the army was the dominant service and the degree to which the air force was independent.

These issues raise questions not only about how best to present the history of air power, but also concerning its past and continuing rationale and relevance. This is the case both for the military outcomes of its use and for their political consequences. Nevertheless, despite the problems confronted in adapting circumstances, learning lessons, coping with the pressures of commitments, and responding to fiscal exigencies, air power has dramatically changed equations for firepower and mobility.

More specifically, both in its own right, and as part of combined air operations, air power has made manoeuvre warfare a more central part of conflict. As a result, air power has greatly increased the tempo of war as well as its potential deadliness. As with armoured warfare when it was introduced in the s, the perception of the capability of air power and its reality were very different.

This was also true for fears of what it might mean for warfare. There is generally a poor understanding of the reliability of aircraft systems. In practice, the more complex a system, the less reliable it is. And there is the issue of appropriate use. Thus, air power is not a panacea. However, in one particular respect, air power fulfilled the hopes of some early advocates.

Thanks to the successful integration of reconnaissance information with artillery, aircraft helped overcome the relative stasis of First World War land operations. In doing so, aircraft helped restore mobility and, at least, a sense of results to ground operations, although this achievement was heavily qualified in terms of outcomes. In the Allied victory on the Western Front, more was due to the effective use of artillery incorporating the advantages of air-derived information than to new weapons, whether tanks or aircraft, operating in ground support roles, let alone to long-range bombing.

Nevertheless, air power indeed proved part of the equation in translating advantages into the ability to defeat opposing forces on the ground, as it also did in with the British success against the Turks in Palestine.

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This factor remained important in the understanding, presentation and use of air power. All of the combatants in the Second World War believed in the value of air dominance or supremacy and in its impact on operations on the ground, even if not all pursued the latter with the immediacy understood by the term ground support.

However, the latter was also an objective, even if the relationship between strategic bombing and theatre dominance was frequently somewhat unclear in practice. These goals and priorities were not static. They were affected by resources, opportunities, doctrine and the ability to respond.

Aerial warfare - Wikipedia

Thus, the American ability to demonstrate flexibility and rethink the situation, and to plan and produce accordingly, led to the development and use of a long-range escort fighter capability. Similarly, in large part in response to Japanese advances in China and Japanese advances in the Pacific, the Americans moved their focus for air attacks on Japan from China-based aircraft to those operating from Pacific bases, and this had significant strategic and operational consequences.

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The formations are limited only by the number and size of their aircraft, so given enough capacity a huge force can appear "out of nowhere" in minutes, an action referred to as vertical envelopment. Conversely, airborne forces typically lack the supplies and equipment for prolonged combat operations, and are therefore more suited for airhead operations than for long-term occupation; furthermore, parachute operations are particularly sensitive to adverse weather conditions.

Advances in helicopter technology since World War II have brought increased flexibility to the scope of airborne operations, and air assaults have largely replaced large-scale parachute operations, and almost completely replaced combat glider operations. An airstrike or air strike [2] is an offensive operation carried out by attack aircraft.

Air Power: Strength and Weaknesses

Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters , bombers , ground attack aircraft , and attack helicopters. The official definition includes all sorts of targets, including enemy air targets, but in popular use the term is usually narrowed to a tactical small-scale attack on a ground or naval objective. Weapons used in an airstrike can range from machine gun bullets and missiles to various types of bombs.

It is also commonly referred to as an air raid. In close air support , air strikes are usually controlled by trained observers for coordination with friendly ground troops in a manner derived from artillery tactics. Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying their morale or their economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations , or both.

It is a systematically organized and executed attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers , long- or medium-range missiles , or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy's war-making capability. Anti-aircraft warfare or counter-air defence is defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action. It may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries the main effort has tended to be 'homeland defence'.

NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight. In modern usage, a missile is a self-propelled precision-guided munition system, as opposed to an unguided self-propelled munition, referred to as a rocket although these too can also be guided. Missiles have four system components: Missiles come in types adapted for different purposes: All known existing missiles are designed to be propelled during powered flight by chemical reactions inside a rocket engine , jet engine , or other type of engine.

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In ordinary British-English usage predating guided weapons, a missile is " any thrown object ", such as objects thrown at players by rowdy spectators at a sporting event. The growing capability of UAVs has thrown into question the survivability and capability of manned fighter jets. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Warfare and military operations conducted by, amongst, and against aircraft and other aerial systems. For military aviation forces and equipment, see Military aviation.

For strategic theory on the use of air forces, see Airpower. Prehistoric Ancient Post-classical Early modern Late modern industrial fourth-gen. Blitzkrieg Deep operation Maneuver Operational manoeuvre group.

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Military recruitment Conscription Recruit training Military specialism Women in the military Children in the military Transgender people and military service Sexual harassment in the military Conscientious objection Counter recruitment. Arms industry Materiel Supply chain management. History of aerial warfare. Example of ordinary English usage.

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