Airpower in Small Wars

Airpower in Small Wars PDF Author: James S. Corum
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
The use of airpower in wartime calls to mind the massive bombings of World War II, but airplanes have long been instrumental in small wars as well. Ever since its use by the French to put down rebellious Moroccan tribes in 1913, airpower has been employed to fight in limited but often lengthy small conflicts around the globe. This is the first comprehensive history of airpower in small wars-conflicts pitting states against non-state groups such as insurgents, bandits, factions, and terrorists-tracing it from the early years of the twentieth century to the present day. It examines dozens of conflicts with strikingly different scenarios: the Greek Civil War, the Philippine Anti-Huk campaign, French and British colonial wars, the war in South Vietnam before the American escalation, counterinsurgency in southern Africa, Latin American counterguerrilla operations, and counterinsurgency and counterterrorist campaigns in the Middle East over the last four decades. For each war, the authors describe the strategies employed on both sides of the conflict, the air forces engaged, and the specific airpower tactics employed. They discuss the ground campaigns and provide the political background necessary to understand the air campaigns, and in each case they judge the utility of airpower in its broadest sense. In their historic sweep, they show how forms of airpower evolved from planes to police helicopters, aircraft of the civilian air reserve, and today's unmanned aircraft. They also disclose how small wars after World War II required new strategies, operational solutions, and tactics. By taking this broad view of small-war airpower, the authors are able to make assessments about the most effective and least effective means of employing airpower. They offer specific conclusions ranging from the importance of comprehensive strategy to the need for the United States and its allies to expand small-wars training programs. Airpower in Small Wars will be invaluable for educating military professionals and policy makers in the subject as well as for providing a useful framework for developing more effective doctrine for employing airpower in the conflicts we are most likely to see in the twenty-first century.

Airpower in Small Wars

Airpower in Small Wars PDF Author: James S. Corum
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
The use of airpower in wartime calls to mind the massive bombings of World War II, but airplanes have long been instrumental in small wars as well. Ever since its use by the French to put down rebellious Moroccan tribes in 1913, airpower has been employed to fight in limited but often lengthy small conflicts around the globe. This is the first comprehensive history of airpower in small wars-conflicts pitting states against non-state groups such as insurgents, bandits, factions, and terrorists-tracing it from the early years of the twentieth century to the present day. It examines dozens of conflicts with strikingly different scenarios: the Greek Civil War, the Philippine Anti-Huk campaign, French and British colonial wars, the war in South Vietnam before the American escalation, counterinsurgency in southern Africa, Latin American counterguerrilla operations, and counterinsurgency and counterterrorist campaigns in the Middle East over the last four decades. For each war, the authors describe the strategies employed on both sides of the conflict, the air forces engaged, and the specific airpower tactics employed. They discuss the ground campaigns and provide the political background necessary to understand the air campaigns, and in each case they judge the utility of airpower in its broadest sense. In their historic sweep, they show how forms of airpower evolved from planes to police helicopters, aircraft of the civilian air reserve, and today's unmanned aircraft. They also disclose how small wars after World War II required new strategies, operational solutions, and tactics. By taking this broad view of small-war airpower, the authors are able to make assessments about the most effective and least effective means of employing airpower. They offer specific conclusions ranging from the importance of comprehensive strategy to the need for the United States and its allies to expand small-wars training programs. Airpower in Small Wars will be invaluable for educating military professionals and policy makers in the subject as well as for providing a useful framework for developing more effective doctrine for employing airpower in the conflicts we are most likely to see in the twenty-first century.

Firepower in Small Wars

Firepower in Small Wars PDF Author: Robert H. Scales
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Firepower
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"This book will examine the role of modern firepower in limited wars. It seeks to derive from recent history certain fundamental alterations in the traditional American way of employing firepower that might better suit the unique requirements of lesser conflicts. It is a history of firepower doctrine. Battles, weapons, and personalities are mentioned incidentally and only as they relate to the tactical methods which govern the use of artillery, helicopter gunships, and tactical airpower."--Page 3.

Firepower in Limited War

Firepower in Limited War PDF Author: Robert Scales
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0307523764
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 429

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Book Description
“Bar none, the best book on fire support in the English language and one of the most accessible works on tactics I have ever read.”—Bruce Gudmundsson, author of On Artillery The military of the United States is the world's strongest. Our armed forces are equipped with weapons of remarkable accuracy and unprecedented destructive power. In the Gulf War, allied forces used these weapons in what turned out to be a high-tech shooting gallery. The pinpoint accuracy of the sharpshooter's rifle is now routinely expected in the delivery of thousand pound bombs. Events in Somalia and the Balkans have aptly demonstrated, however, the profound limitations of firepower in limited conflicts of low intensity. Yet, these are the kinds of war we are most likely to encounter as we proceed down the path of the new world order. Robert Scales examines this problem through his analysis of the role of firepower in the wars in Indochina, the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the Falklands War, and the Gulf War. Chosen for the prestigious Marine Corps Commandant's Reading List, Firepower in Limited War is must reading for everyone interested in national defense and all military professionals.

Small Wars, Big Data

Small Wars, Big Data PDF Author: Eli Berman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140089011X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 411

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Book Description
How a new understanding of warfare can help the military fight today’s conflicts more effectively The way wars are fought has changed starkly over the past sixty years. International military campaigns used to play out between large armies at central fronts. Today's conflicts find major powers facing rebel insurgencies that deploy elusive methods, from improvised explosives to terrorist attacks. Small Wars, Big Data presents a transformative understanding of these contemporary confrontations and how they should be fought. The authors show that a revolution in the study of conflict--enabled by vast data, rich qualitative evidence, and modern methods—yields new insights into terrorism, civil wars, and foreign interventions. Modern warfare is not about struggles over territory but over people; civilians—and the information they might choose to provide—can turn the tide at critical junctures. The authors draw practical lessons from the past two decades of conflict in locations ranging from Latin America and the Middle East to Central and Southeast Asia. Building an information-centric understanding of insurgencies, the authors examine the relationships between rebels, the government, and civilians. This approach serves as a springboard for exploring other aspects of modern conflict, including the suppression of rebel activity, the role of mobile communications networks, the links between aid and violence, and why conventional military methods might provide short-term success but undermine lasting peace. Ultimately the authors show how the stronger side can almost always win the villages, but why that does not guarantee winning the war. Small Wars, Big Data provides groundbreaking perspectives for how small wars can be better strategized and favorably won to the benefit of the local population.

Firepower in Limited War

Firepower in Limited War PDF Author: Robert H. Scales
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Firepower
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description


Firepower

Firepower PDF Author: Paul Lockhart
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 154167295X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 562

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Book Description
How military technology has transformed the world The history of warfare cannot be fully understood without considering the technology of killing. In Firepower, acclaimed historian Paul Lockhart tells the story of the evolution of weaponry and how it transformed not only the conduct of warfare but also the very structure of power in the West, from the Renaissance to the dawn of the atomic era. Across this period, improvements in firepower shaped the evolving art of war. For centuries, weaponry had remained simple enough that any state could equip a respectable army. That all changed around 1870, when the cost of investing in increasingly complicated technology soon meant that only a handful of great powers could afford to manufacture advanced weaponry, while other countries fell behind. Going beyond the battlefield, Firepower ultimately reveals how changes in weapons technology reshaped human history.

Firepower in Limited War

Firepower in Limited War PDF Author: Robert H. Scales, Jr.
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 9780788112287
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description


Synchronizing Airpower and Firepower in the Deep Battle

Synchronizing Airpower and Firepower in the Deep Battle PDF Author: Lt Col Usaf Laughbaum, R.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
ISBN: 9781479282548
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
The concept of “deep battle” was formally introduced to US war fighters during the early 1980s through the US Army's AirLand Battle doctrine. As envisioned by Air Force and Army leaders, the initial purpose for the deep battle was to delay and weaken Soviet second and follow-on echelons during a European conventional war. Within the AirLand Battle construct, the Air Force had responsibility for synchronizing deep operations and for employing air interdiction against Soviet maneuver forces to set the conditions for victory in the decisive “close battle.” The fire support coordination line (FSCL), normally positioned at field artillery maximum range from the forward line of troops (FLOT), separated the Air Force's deep operations from the Army's close battle. During the late 1980s the Army began fielding a potent deep-battle capability of its own. Concurrently, Army doctrine assigned to the ground force commander responsibility for synchronizing deep operations with the close battle. Thus were planted the seeds of conflict with the Air Force over management of the deep battle. To better influence deep operations, the Army defined the FSCL as a permissive fire support coordination measure and also extended the range of the FSCL from the FLOT. The Persian Gulf War “field tested” US deep-battle doctrine. The joint force air component commander (JFACC) synchronized deep operations using several ad hoc procedures approved the joint force commander (JFC). By most Air Force accounts, the deep battle was well managed and executed, except for the Army's use of the FSCL during the last days of the war. Conversely, the Army was thoroughly disappointed with prosecution of the deep battle during Operation Desert Storm. Army frustration arose from the fact that the deep battle was synchronized by the JFACC and not by the ground force commander – a direct violation of joint and Army doctrine. Joint doctrine produce since the Gulf War has attempted to create a framework for synchronizing airpower and land-based firepower in the deep battle. In spite of that effort, many contentious issues between airmen and soldiers remain unresolved, chief among them the matter of command relationships on and above the deep battlefield. In this award-winning study on “Synchronizing Airpower and Firepower in the Deep Battle,” Lt. Col. R. Kent Laughbaum argues that current joint doctrine does not provide sufficient and acceptable guidance for synchronizing Air Force and Army deep operations. To improve such synchronization, Colonel Laughbaum proposes five modifications to current joint doctrine: assign the joint force commander responsibility for establishing and positioning the fire support coordination line; redefine the fire support coordination line as a restrictive fire support coordination measure; include all planned airpower, firepower, and maneuver operations beyond the fire support coordination line in the air tasking order; position the fire support coordination line relatively close to the forward line of own troops, typically no farther than the maximum range of tube artillery; and restrict planned air interdiction missions from targets short of the fire support coordination line.

To Find, and Not to Yield. How Advances in Information and Firepower Can Transform Theater Warfare

To Find, and Not to Yield. How Advances in Information and Firepower Can Transform Theater Warfare PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The military forces of the United States are on the threshold of fielding new capabilities that, in concert, represent a revolutionary transformation in the ability to prosecute large scale theater warfare. These capabilities, if fully exploited, can allow comparatively small numbers of forces to observe, assess, engage, and effectively attack enemy assets especially moving land, sea, and air forces over a large area. These new capabilities are thus well suited to meeting the needs of a demanding U.S. defense strategy that calls for forces that can rapidly project military power over long distances, apply that power in a discriminate fashion, and achieve highly asymmetric, favorable outcomes. This report does not argue that the nation should be spending more on defense. It does argue that the Department of Defense should reexamine its force mix and investment priorities in order to exploit more fully and more rapidly important opportunities that exist to enhance U.S. capabilities for rapid power projection. The analysis set forth here should be useful to anyone with a serious interest in U.S. national security and defense planning, particularly those interested in capabilities needed to deter and to prevail in major theater conflicts.

Big Wars and Small Wars

Big Wars and Small Wars PDF Author: Hew Strachan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134233272
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
This is a fascinating new insight into the British army and its evolution through both large and small scale conflicts. To prepare for future wars, armies derive lessons from past wars. However, some armies are defeated because they learnt the wrong lessons, fighting new conflicts in ways appropriate to the last. For the British Army in the twentieth century, the challenge has been particularly great. It has never had the luxury of emerging from one major European war with the time to prepare itself for the next. The leading military historians show how ongoing commitments to a range of ‘small wars’ have always been part of the Army’s experience. After 1902 and after 1918 they included colonial campaigns, but they also developed into what we would now call counter-insurgency operations, and these became the norm between 1945 and 1969. During the height of the Cold War, in 1982, the Army was deployed to the Falklands. Since 1990 the dominant tasks of the Army have been peace support operations. This is an excellent resource for all students and scholars of military history, politics and international relations and British history.