Innovation in the United States Air Force: Evidence from Six Cases

Abstract

Developing innovative means to go over not through national strategic challenges has long been central to the Air Forces contribution to American security.1 Recently, however, U.S. Air Force (USAF) senior leaders have raised the questions of whether the service is sufficiently innovative today and what can be done to make it more innovative for the future. This report assesses six historical cases of Air Force innovation or apparent failure to innovate. These case studies include innovations in strategic reconnaissance (19461972), nuclear survivability(19501960), suppression of enemy air defenses (19751985), and precision strategic attack(19901999). Cases of apparent failure to innovate include close air support after World War II(19461951), early efforts to defeat Soviet integrated air defenses (19601970), and airborne high-value targeting in the postCold War era (19902001).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1085101

Entities

People

  • Adam R. Grissom
  • Caitlin Lee
  • Karl P. Mueller

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Anti-Radiation Missiles
  • Combat Areas
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Geography
  • Guided Bombs
  • International Law
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Nuclear Bombs
  • Rockets
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Effects

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Strategic Security Studies