Why the Next Fighter Will Be Manned, and the One After That
Sometimes a technology is so awe-inspiring that the imagination runs away with it — often far, far away from reality. Robots are like that. A lot of big and ultimately unfulfilled promises were made in...
View ArticleAirpower May Not Win Wars, But it Sure Doesn’t Lose Them
“A modern, autonomous, and thoroughly trained Air Force in being at all times will not alone be sufficient, but without it there can be no national security.” — General H. H. ‘Hap’ Arnold, USAAF The...
View ArticleThe Search for the Technological Silver Bullet To Win Wars
Revolutions in Military Affairs are not mere forms of modernization, revitalization or adaptation. They involve order-of-magnitude improvements in military capability. They primarily require sustained...
View ArticleKeep the Middle East at Arm’s Length with Airpower
Following the Gulf War, the United States entered a long containment phase for Iraq, relying heavily on two no-fly zones (NFZs) to limit the regime’s ability to threaten Kuwait or Iraqi Kurdistan. In...
View ArticleThe Five-Ring Circus: How Airpower Enthusiasts Forgot About Interdiction
Since the development of the Army Air Corps, airmen have been entranced by the possibilities inherent in airpower for a quick and relatively bloodless end to a major war. While the U.S. Army adopted...
View ArticleLet the Russians Bleed in Syria While We Focus on Containing Jihadists
The announcement of a major Russian surge in its support for Syria still has Washington reeling. Combined with the announcement that Russia, Iraq, and Iran have entered an agreement to enhance...
View ArticleThe Economics of War with China: This Will Hurt You More than It Hurts Me
The ongoing competition between the People’s Republic of China and the United States in the Pacific is at a low simmer. Despite public friction over the U.S. Navy’s freedom of navigation operations,...
View ArticleAmerica’s Victory Disease Has Left it Dangerously Deluded
VICTORY DISEASE. The affliction that is caught by most armies and nations after they have won a war. The disease is characterized by arrogance, a tendency to believe myths as to the underlying reasons...
View ArticleWhy We Must Train Our Forces for Fog and Friction
There is great disorder under heaven, and the situation is excellent. — Mao Tse-Tung Damn, that was close. The young captain peeked out from underneath a table in the Wing Operations Center (WOC),...
View ArticleA Visit from St. Nicholas in Bagdad
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the place, young soldiers were dreaming of beer by the case The stockings were hung by the gun rack with pride, in the hopes that there soon would be...
View ArticleLiving With Fog and Friction: The Fallacy of Information Superiority
War is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty. A sensitive and discriminating judgment is called...
View ArticleTreating the Islamic State as a State
Rhetorically, the tendency in the U.S. government is to treat the Islamic State as an insurgent movement rather than a state-like entity. It is often called ISIL — the Islamic State in Iraq and the...
View ArticleThe U.S. Air Force and Stealth: Stuck on Denial Part I
Note: This article is the first of a series addressing the challenges facing the Air Force’s combat aviation capabilities in the future. The series, titled “Stuck on Denial,” addresses the root of the...
View ArticleRediscovering Low Altitude: Getting Past the Air Force’s Overcommitment to...
Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series, “Stuck on Denial,” which looks at the U.S. Air Force and its use of stealth technology. Read the first part here. On the night of May 16, 1943,...
View ArticleLow-Altitude Penetration and Electronic Warfare: Stuck on Denial, Part III
Desert Storm remains the benchmark for a modern air campaign. In 40 days, a diverse assembly of coalition airpower managed to shatter one of the world’s largest military establishments, paving the way...
View ArticleThe Need for SEAD Part I: The Nature of SEAD
Editor’s Note: The Nature of SEAD is the first part of a 2-part series calling for the restoration of the defense suppression enterprise that carried the Joint Force from Vietnam until Desert Storm....
View ArticleIt’s Not About the Airplane: Envisioning the A-X2
The ongoing debate over the A-10 is settled only in the short term. Congress has directed the Air Force to retain the A-10 airframe, and that is sensible for now, but it is only a short-term fix. The...
View ArticleThe Need for SEAD Part II: The Evolving Threat
Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a 2-part series called “The Need for SEAD”, which advocates the restoration of the defense suppression enterprise that carried the Joint Force from Vietnam...
View ArticleAvoiding the Charge of the Light Brigade Against China
Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of...
View ArticleWe Already Have an Arsenal Plane: It’s Called the B-52
And the last project I want to highlight is one that we’re calling the arsenal plane, which takes one of our oldest aircraft platforms and turns it into a flying launchpad for all sorts of different...
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