One More Time - Can Airpower Win the War?

Abstract

This paper addresses the airpower theories of Douhet and Mitchell as they apply to the four modern wars the United States has been involved in. It looks at conditions that did and did not exist in each conflict, looking for commonalities that depressed the role or results of airpower in each. This paper addresses issues from the perspective of basic airpower theory overlaid on generalities of each war. This essay finds that the relative domination of airpower as a force in war is dependant to political and geographical concerns rather than doctrine. It concludes that although airpower won't win all wars in the future, the potential to win wars is there if political aims and battlefield physical constraint coexist in the appropriate manner.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 19, 1992
Accession Number
ADA253220

Entities

People

  • John S. Burkhart

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Bombing
  • Bombs
  • Case Studies
  • Continents
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Nuclear Bombs
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Second World War
  • Strategic Bombing
  • United States
  • Warfare
  • Weapons

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Theoretical Analysis.