The air weapon : doctrines of air power strategy and operational art

Air power today dominates virtually all military operations, yet it remains the least well-understood form of armed force. Technical and tactical details of aviation forces are widely available, but few understand how such forces are best used in prosecuting defence and security policy. The Air Weapon seeks to address this deficiency by setting out the doctrines which guide the use of air power at the strategic and operational levels of war. It identifies what aviation forces can - and cannot - be used to achieve. It encompasses doctrines for war-fighting and also for war-prevention. And it suggests possible directions for future doctrinal development. Following a cohesive 'top-down' analytical path, the study deals with air power in the only viable way: as an integrated entity. The Air Weapon is perhaps the only all-encompassing high-level study of this critically important yet all-too-little-understood form of military power.

A British Royal Air Force pilot, member of the nuclear policy staff at the Ministry of Defense, and writer and speaker on air power sets out the doctrines that guide the use of air power at the strategic and operational levels. He identifies what it can and cannot do both in fighting and preventing war, and suggests directions for future development of the doctrine.

Booknews

A British Royal Air Force pilot, member of the nuclear policy staff at the Ministry of Defense, and writer and speaker on air power sets out the doctrines that guide the use of air power at the strategic and operational levels. He identifies what it can and cannot do both in fighting and preventing war, and suggests directions for future development of the doctrine. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Front Matter....Pages i-x The ‘Database’: A Historical Background....Pages 1-22 Warfare in the Third Dimension: Air Power in Perspective....Pages 23-41 Cohesion is the Key: Air Power Employment....Pages 42-61 Primus Inter Pares: The Counter-Air Campaign....Pages 62-85 Direct Action: The Anti-Surface Force Air Campaign....Pages 86-108 The Deep Battle: The Strategic Air Offensive Campaign....Pages 109-127 Force Multipliers: Combat-Support Air Operations....Pages 128-151 The Sinews of Air Power: Ground Combat-Support Activities....Pages 152-169 Things to Come? Some Thoughts on Future Developments....Pages 170-185 Back Matter....Pages 186-214 The idea of flight has captured man's imagination since the very earliest times.