Airpower in Modern War
Abstract
American leaders and Western democratic governments in general have indisputably used airpower as the go to means to employ the military instrument of national power. Most conventional military actions since 1991 have begun with, or were entirely comprised of, airpower campaigns at least on the friendly side. Given a 24-hour news cycle and an atrocity-hungry culture feeding multimedia misery to a craving public, one has to wonder if American airpower can still be effective. This article asserts that we can use airpower proficiently in contemporary risk and casualty-averse conflicts but that we must first understand the broad evolution and maturation of airpower theory as well as the state of the strategic environment in which we operate today. America needs further sensible investment in both people and equipment. To create successful strategies for tomorrow, we need to incorporate lessons learned from today s controversial conflicts. This article examines the history of airpower and predominant airpower theories from the perspective of the contemporary strategic environment characterized by a 24-hour media cycle and high sensitivity to casualties. In light of recent conflicts, the article attempts to answer the question So what? regarding our likely strategy versus our adversary's. It introduces a mechanism called the atrocity threshold to assist in analyzing a conflict situation for future strategy development. Finally, the article offers recommendations for future airpower strategies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- ADA618932
Entities
People
- Merrick E. Krause
Organizations
- Air University