The Interaction of Technology and Doctrine in the USAF,
Abstract
This paper discusses the following three propositions. First, that successful new military weapons routinely derive from proven technology and virtually never emerge from efforts to contrive, shape, or push immature technology in the name of perceived requirements, however well conceived they may be. Second, that the evolution of USAF military doctrine since World War II has been very largely driven by expectations about the rate and direction of future weapons development. Third, that many - if not most - of the postwar difficulties of Air Force research and development, and many problems of defining and applying appropriate air doctrine, have developed because the consequences of basing doctrine on unrealistic technical expectations are widely misunderstood or ignored. The premise underlying both strategic and tactical doctrine in this country since World War II is that quality has an inevitable advantage over quantity, and this may well be overdue for revision.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA154202
Entities
People
- R. Perry
Organizations
- RAND Corporation