The Concept of Air Power

The concept of an air force's missions as described above developed as technological progress increased the scope of the airplane. During the rapid development of aviation after World War I, such men as General Giulio Douhet of Italy and General William Mitchell of the United States foresaw the increasing importance of strategic air power. They envisioned that aerial bombardment would be so decisive a factor in warfare that armies and navies would be obsolete—that they would not even have time to mobilize once war began.

The destruction caused by aerial bombs in World War II was widespread, yet bombing was not as decisive as Douhet and Mitchell had predicted. Cities were largely destroyed by bombs, but nations continued to fight. Land and naval forces still played a major role in warfare. Nevertheless, air power became increasingly important as military leaders realized that strategic bombing could severely reduce a nation's capacity to make war.

With the growth of strategic air power came a corresponding growth in defensive air power. The greater the potential of aerial attack, the more important it became to prevent enemy bombers from reaching their targets. Superiority in the air came to be an accepted military doctrine.

The German invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II demonstrated the effectiveness of tactical air support for ground forces. Carrier-based aircraft played an important part in supporting American troop landings in the World War II Pacific campaigns.

The capture of Crete by German paratroops in 1941 was a striking example of the effectiveness of logistical employment of air power. Throughout World War II, airplanes were used to bring troops, weapons, ammunition, and supplies quickly to areas where they were needed.

The concept of air power underwent a radical change in 1945 with the development of the atomic bomb. Two such bombs were dropped on Japan by American bombers, and within days Japan surrendered. The strategic bomber, armed with nuclear weapons, seemingly possessed the power to win wars singlehandedly.

Another development—the long-range bombardment missile, pioneered by Germany during the war—soon promised to provide an even more effective method of delivering nuclear weapons to their targets. “Push-button warfare,” making not only armies and navies, but also air forces obsolete, seemed possible.

The awesome destructive capability of the nuclear weapons accumulated by the Soviet Union (and inherited by its successor state, Russia) and the United States, however, thus far has served to prevent their use. When the United States in 1962 demanded the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba, the Soviet Union dismantled its missile bases on the island rather than risk nuclear war. While both sides in the Cold War refrained from using nuclear weapons, there were numerous “limited wars” in which conventional air power was employed.

Thus, air forces must be prepared for a twofold role—to fight “limited wars” with conventional weapons and to be capable of immediately delivering the immensely more destructive nuclear weapons to their targets in the event of all-out war.

The organization of air forces is such that the leader of the independent air force may be a chief of staff or air marshal and hold the rank of a general. In the U.S Air Force, the highest authority is the secretary of the Air Force who is appointed by the President. In smaller countries the air force is often controlled by the army or navy.The basic administrative unit is known as the squadron, which comprises of aircraft of one type or model. Most fighter and attack squadrons have around 18 to 24 assigned aircraft that are clubbed into smaller units of 2 to 4 planes known as flights. Bomber squadrons have 10 to 19 assigned aircraft. Two or more squadrons form groups or wings. In bigger air forces these units at times come together to form larger divisions or commands.