Chapter 14: Airpower As Strategic Laboratory Flashcards
- Inadequate armament on the bombers
- No capability for precision bombing
- Use of the fighters in close support of the bombers instead of in general support
Germany’s 3 critical mistakes in its use of airpower
An independent air campaign, intended to be decisive, and directed against the essential war-making capabilities of the enemy
Strategic bombing
What are the three principles of combat that strategic bombing takes advantage of?
- The principle of mass
- The principle of objective
- The principle of economy of force
Its capacity to bring all its forces from widely distributed bases simultaneously to focus on single targets
The principle of mass
Its capacity to select for destruction the elements most vital to an enemy’s war-potential and penetrate deep into enemy territory
The principle of objective
Its capacity to concentrate on a limited number of vital target systems, and its capacity to select for destruction a portion of target systems which all yield the desired effect with the least expenditure of force
The principle of economy of force
- We had 4.5 years to rebuild an AF. We need to maintain it next time.
- No more long field campaigns; the 3rd dimension
- Control of the air to execute sustained ops w/o prohibitive losses (long-range fighter escort a must)
- The Germans were land-minded. Other enemies won’t be.
- Another war will be decided by some form of air power before the surface forces are able to make contact
The 5 lessons that the US learned from the use of Strategic Air power in WWII
- “What are the vital elements of an enemy nation’s power?”
- “How can airpower sufficiently endanger them to change an opponent’s behavior?”
The two questions of airpower theory the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) sought to answer.
The bomber must only fly against ‘vital material targets’ deep in the enemy heartland and never in Army support
Kenneth Walker’s “Inviolable Principle” for bombers
What were the 3 major thematic differences between ACTS theory and Col Warden’s airpower theory?
Warden added a new vital center (the leadership ring) and two new destructive mechanisms to influence it: decapitation and parallel war
The killing or isolation of enemy leaders
Decapitation
The overwhelming force strategy to use when the leaders are unreachable; death by 1000 cuts
Parallel war
- Overreliance on metaphor in place of logical argumentation
- Making a fetish of quantification and prediction in war
- Seeking to develop hoary maxims that would apply to all wars
The 3 pathologies of airpower that affect both ACTS and Col Warden’s theories
A metaphor for the digital society made possible through computers and computer networks
Cyberspace
The sum total of information available electronically, the exchange of that information, and the communities which emerge from the use of that information
Cyberspace
(In reference to a particular military op)
The information available to a specific audience
Cyberspace
- the organization can be decentralized as much as is feasible within a military context
- the organization can function as a coalition of semi-independent agents whose environment drives their operations
2 benefits of operating in a rich cyberspace environment
- Information is the coin of the realm in cyberspace
- Cyberspace shapes authority
- Cyberspace operates under non-traditional physics
- Cyberspace brings the front line to the front door
The 4 fundamental principles of cyberspace
The ability to project military power or influence through the control and exploitation of air, space, and cyberspace to achieve strategic, operational, or tactical objectives
Airpower
Air power exploits the third dimension of the operational environment, the electromagnetic spectrum, and time to leverage speed, range, flexibility, precision, tempo, and lethality to create effects from and within the air, space, and cyberspace domain.
TRUE
Air power cannot simultaneously strike directly at an adversary’s centers of gravity, vital centers, critical vulnerabilities, and strategy.
FALSE
In what ways does air power operate that are fundamentally different from other forms of military power?
With its speed, range, and three-dimensional perspective
Air power can be used rapidly to express the national will wherever and whenever necessary.
TRUE
The AF provides national leadership and joint commanders with options, the threat of which may accomplish political objectives without what?
The application of lethal force
What are the three essential first ingredients in any successful modern military operation?
Air, space, and cyberspace superiority
Thinking beyond two dimensions, into the dimensions of the vertical and the dimension of time
Air-mindedness
Control the vertical dimension is generally a necessary precondition for what?
Control of the surface
Air power is an inherently ___ force.
Strategic
Surface forces can exploit the principles of mass and maneuver simultaneously to a far greater extent than air power.
FALSE
AF forces are less culturally intrusive in many scenarios.
TRUE
The effective integration of capabilities, people, weapons, bases, logistics, and all supporting infrastructure results in what?
Airpower
Airpower’s unique characteristics necessitate that it be controlled by other military branches.
FALSE
(centrally controlled by Airmen)
Supporting bases with their people, systems, and facilities are essential to launch, recovery, and sustainment of AF forces.
TRUE
The choice of appropriate capabilities is a key aspect in the realization of what?
Air Power
To operate, maintain, and secure nuclear forces to achieve and assured capability to deter an adversary from taking action against vital US interests
Nuclear Deterrence Operations
- Assure / Dissuade / Deter
- Nuclear Strike
- Nuclear Safety
Sub-elements of nuclear deterrence operations
The degree of dominance in air battles of one force or another which permits the conduct of operation in its related air, sea, land, and special operations forces at a given time and place without prohibitive interference by an opposing force
Air Superiority
- Offensive Counterair
- Defensive Counterair
- Airspace Control
Sub-elements of air superiority
The degree of dominance in space of one force over another that permits the conduct of operations by the former and its related land, sea, air, space, and special operations forces at a giving time and place without prohibitive interference by the opposing force (may be localized or broad)
Space Superiority
The operational advantage in, through, and from cyberspace to conduct operations at a given time and in a given domain without prohibitive interference
Cyberspace Superiority
- Cyberspace Force Application
- Cyberspace Defense
- Cyberspace Support
Sub-elements of Cyberspace Superiority
The exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over a signed and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission
Command and Control
The synchronization and integration of the planning and operation of sensors, assets, and processing, exploitation, and dissemination systems across the globe to conduct current and future operations
Global Integrated Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance (ISR)
- Planning & Direction
- Collection
- Processing & Exploitation
- Analysis & Production
- Dissemination & Integration
Sub-elements of Global Integrated ISR
The ability to hold at risk or strike rapidly and persistently any target to create swift, decisive, and precise effects across multiple domains
Global Precision Attack
- Strategic Attack
- Air Interdiction
- Close Air Support
Sub-elements of Global Precision Attack
Operations conducted in hostile, denied, or politically-sensitive environments to achieve military, diplomatic, informational, and/or economic objectives employing military capabilities for which there is no broad conventional force requirement
Special Operations
- Agile Combat Support
- Aviation Foreign Internal Defense
- Battlefield Air Operations
- Command & Control
- Information Operations
- ISR
- Military Information Support Operations
- Precision Strike
- Specialized Air Mobility
- Specialized Refueling
Sub-elements for Special Operations
The timely deployment, employment, sustainment, augmentation, and redeployment of military forces and capabilities across the Range of Military Operations (ROMO)
Rapid Global Mobility
- Airlift
- Air Refueling
- Aeromedical Evacuation
Sub-elements of Rapid Global Mobility
The sum of military, diplomatic, and civil efforts to prepare for and execute the recovery and degree integration of isolated personnel
Personnel Recovery
- Combat Search & Rescue
- Civil Search & Rescue
- Disaster Response
- Humanitarian Assistance Operations
- Medical Evacuation / Casualty Evacuation
Sub-elements of Personnel Recovery
- Ready the Total Force
- Prepare the Battlespace
- Position the Total Force
- Protect the Total Force
- Employ Combat Support Forces
- Sustain the Total Force
- Recover the Total Force
Sub-elements of Agile Combat Support
Airmen interacting with international airmen and other relevant actors to develop, guide, and sustain relationships for mutual benefit and security
Building Partnerships
What are the components of the Nuclear Triad?
- bombers
- ICBMs
- SLBMs
(air, land, & sea)
In the president’s view, conventional parity would destroy the US economy and bankrupt the federal treasury. But the US could effectively deter Soviet aggression by placing greater emphasis on nuclear weapons in American national security policy - led to the development of the nuclear triad
President Eisenhower’s “New Look” policy
Led the US to be purposefully vulnerable to a first strike, yet maintaining a credible second-strike capability
Assured Destruction
Summarize why the US should maintain its nuclear triad
Redundancy offers a great level of protection that submarine-based nuclear arsenal would greatly diminish
