A third aspect was defense and here the British used air power successfully in the 1940 Battle of Britain, while defense was forced upon the Germans after 1943 and the Japanese in 1945. The Germans and Soviets used it essentially as part of the ground forces in blitzkrieg the British and the Americans started out emphasizing grand-strategic bombing, whose tactics were a form of guerrilla warfare.
World War II saw great debates over the proper use of air power. Photo from National Historic Landmarks Collection, courtesy Smithsonian Institution and U.S. Equally important was salvage, repair, and maintenance in which the supply of spare parts was critical, as was POL (petrol, oil, lubricants) and tools.Īiracobra Fighters at Ladd Field readying for flight to Siberia, July 9, 1944-this aircraft was a favorite of the Russian flyers Further, a massive air logistics effort took place over "the Hump" between India and China. By mid-war, new advanced airfields could be built in three days using steel planks, and fuel could be supplied in places by pipeline. Air power also used photo-reconnaissance, and wireless interception of messages proved to be a powerful intelligence tool. It was the powerful handmaiden of the armies in the German blitzkrieg of the lightning campaigns in the massive Soviet air armies along with all their arms of the Allied armies at sea in the Pacific, where both land-based air forces and carrier task forces operated where aircraft patrolled the sea lanes in the North Atlantic and also in the combination of armies and air transport in airborne paratroop and glider forces. Not only air forces, but also air transport and the whole infrastructure were used in the war effort.ĭuring World War II, air power was an instrument of policy in the grand strategic bombing of Britain, Germany, and Japan. These changes led to air power becoming a significant third service in the World War II battles. Starting in 1934, modernization began with the technical revolution in machines-all-metal construction, high-octane fuels, airfields both fixed and mobile, electronics, jet propulsion, computers, and atomic bombs (nuclear weapons). Airlines began to develop, and these, though still very small by 1939, had made great technical strides in safety, speed, reliability, and comfort. Both the French and the British feared the air menace and talked of deterrence. In the inter-war years (1918-1939 for Europe and 1918-1941 for the United States) air forces and the infrastructure upon which they depended lay almost dormant except for French, British, Italian, and American colonial policing. Rockwell Field in San Diego, California-it was here that the Army began experimenting with air power between 1912-1935, when it became part of the near by Navy base In this 1914-1918 struggle, the supply of aircraft of superior designs, of aircrew, mechanics, and fuel, was critical, as was salvage and repair. In the meantime, grand-strategic bombing of Britain by German Zeppelin airships and Gotha bombers had targeted cities and forced British forces to divert their antiaircraft guns and fighters to defense functions. Very late in the war, ground-attack began to be a significant air tactic. Most air operations took place over the Western Front in France and consisted of reconnaissance activities-obtaining information, photographic, and making maps for the armies, and fighting to prevent others from doing the same. When World War I broke out in 1914, air power was in its infancy, but it grew to be an auxiliary force to be reckoned with by 1918, adding offensive capability to the primary ground-based power (the Army). Air power also requires management through command, control, communications and intelligence. Air power planning and use requires that it operate as part of a national grand strategy using strategic planning and tactical operations according to the principles of war or commerce.Īir power has grown to consist of air forces, airlines, general aviation, the aircraft and ancillary industries, as well as fuel, manpower, and other supplies. It of transporting all sorts of things by aircraft from one place to another." Air power may also be characterized as the ability to fly where you want, when you want, and to prevent the enemy from doing the same. Major General William "Billy" Mitchell defined air power as " the ability to do something in the air. Photo courtesy of NASA, Jim Ross photographer, GRIN DataBase Number: GPN-2000-000372 The F-15 ACTIVE in flight over the Mojave desert during a High Stability Engine Control (HISTEC) flight.
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