SEAD from the Ground Up: SOF's Role in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses
Abstract
The development and proliferation of new Integrated Air Defense System (IADS) components will challenge the U.S. militarys ability to achieve air superiority. Since at least 2001, the U.S. military has enjoyed complete freedom of maneuver in the air, resulting in a force that is conditioned to assume it will achieve air supremacy at the very beginning of a conflict. U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF), in particular, have benefited from air supremacy. Many U.S. military operations include Close Air Support (CAS), Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR), casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), and rotary-wing supported Quick Reaction Forces (QRF). Without air superiority, access to these capabilities will be degraded. The U.S. military has few options to reliably and efficiently degrade modern IADS. U.S. SOF therefore has the imperative to analyze ways it can support the objective of air superiority through direct and indirect means.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1080474
Entities
People
- John Toepher
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School