7. The apotheosis of air power 1983–2001

The period immediately after Vietnam saw little new thinking in the application of air power. ‘The apotheosis of air power 1983–2001’ looks at how this changed. After examining briefly the new ideas encapsulated by the term ‘manoeuvre warfare’, it looks at some of the capabilities that made it happen, particularly precision and stealth. It then considers several campaigns that saw air power used as the main military instrument in the Gulf Wars (1980–91) and the Balkan Wars (1991–9). Many commentators see this period as the age when air power truly came into its own as an instrument of state power and indeed coercion.

4. The Second World War

‘The Second World War: air operations in the West’ considers the air capabilities of the main actors of the Second World War including the Polish air force, the German Luftwaffe, the Soviet air force, Britain’s Royal Air Force, and the US Army Air Corps. It discusses the strategies employed by the different forces during the various stages of the war, including securing the control of the air during the Battle of Britain in 1940, which demonstrated that a defensive air campaign could have strategic and political effect. The improving technology throughout the war is discussed along with role of air power at sea, and the results and controversy of the bombing war in Europe.

9. Per ardua ad astra?

We are only at the beginning of the age of the drone and many possibilities are mooted for their future. The idea of unmanned fighters making air combat and manoeuvring decisions in microseconds may only be a couple of decades away. Will fighter pilots exist then? Will aircrew in combat aircraft become a thing of the past? ‘Per ardua ad astra?’ explains how, today, major air forces such as the RAF and US air force consider themselves aerospace forces, operating in space, cyberspace, and airspace. Whether the structures of air forces remain similar, or change radically, one thing is certain—aircraft of one kind or another will continue to be vital components of any military operation.

8. Aerostats to algorithms 2001–2020

Aircraft and air forces continue to play central roles in conventional battlefields in the early years of the 21st century. However, despite superior Western military power over forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, satisfactory political results were not assured. ‘Aerostats to algorithms 2001–2018’ explains that information is now not only an objective, but a weapon in itself. Information dominance and the use of drones are key elements in contemporary conflict. New generations of aircraft are being seen as information systems that are designed to be completely integrated with each other, but these new capabilities also represent new vulnerabilities; technologically adroit enemies will be making huge efforts to intercept, disrupt, or block that crucial data.

2. Beginnings

Once powered aircraft had taken to the air in the early 20th century, it did not take long for their potential as a military instrument to be realized. The First World War demonstrated that aeroplanes would indeed be war machines, and very formidable ones. ‘Beginnings: the First World War 1914–1918’ explains that whilst it was never a decisive arm on any WW1 front, all the elements of aircraft’s future deployment were present with the exception of its mobility potential. By the end of the war, the combatant nations had thousands of aircraft in their inventories with their attendant administrative and logistical structures. The world’s first independent air arm, the Royal Air Force, had been formed.

5. The Second World War

‘The Second World War: the air war in the Pacific’ describes the maritime and air operations in the Pacific that were truly epic in scale. It outlines the strategic bombing in the Far East as well as the two atomic raids carried out on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Prior to the atomic strikes on Japan, strategic bombing to coerce capitulation had failed in the combined operations against Germany. Even then, it seems likely now that the atomic raids contributed to rather than caused Japanese surrender. Command of the air was indispensable. However, air power alone could not deliver success. When used as a component of an integrated pragmatically founded strategy, it was nonetheless vital.

3. Theory and practice

The years after WW1 saw theorists looking at how this promising new military dimension might be deployed most effectively. ‘Theory and practice: the interwar years 1919–1939’ considers the new structures, the ideas that informed them, and technical developments, and how all were brought together in the Spanish Civil War. It describes how theorists thought air power could win wars alone, either by terrorizing citizens in order to force their governments to capitulate, or through demolishing a state’s industrial capability to sustain a war. This was, and is, termed ‘strategic bombing’. Most importantly, air power offered the possibility that future conflict might be cheaper than the ‘old’ wars, in both lives and money.

1. Foundations

For decades air power has been the primary tool used by major powers to coerce recalcitrant opponents. Aircraft have fundamentally changed the conduct of war on land and at sea at the tactical level. The principles of deployment have changed little over the last century; only the technology has altered. ‘Foundations’ describes the four roles of air power: control of the air; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; attack; and mobility. Without a significant degree of control of the air, the other three elements are impossible to achieve. It also explains that military air operations exist within a number of physical and conceptual dimensions. First and foremost is logistics.

6. Cold War 1945–1982

In August 1945, a new conflict began between the largely liberal and capitalist West, led by the USA, and the Communist bloc led by the USSR. ‘Cold War 1945–1982’ describes how during the Cold War, the USA and the USSR built vast fleets of aircraft, developing technology to deliver faster jet fighters and supersonic interceptors. Two true innovations in air power were effective air-to-air refuelling and the helicopter. The role of air power in the numerous wars of national liberation from 1945 to 1979 is described along with the development of aerial warfare in the Vietnam War, the Arab–Israeli wars (1947–82), and the Indo–Pakistan wars (1947–71).