Why Air Forces Fail

Author : Robin Higham,Stephen J. Harris
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 411 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2006-02-17
Category : History
ISBN : 9780813171746

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Why Air Forces Fail by Robin Higham,Stephen J. Harris Pdf

According to Robin Higham and Stephen J. Harris, "Flight has been part of the human dream for aeons, and its military application has likely been the dark side of that dream for almost as long." In the twentieth century, this dream and its dark side unfolded as the air forces of the world went to war, bringing destruction and reassessment with each failure. Why Air Forces Fail examines the complex, often deep-seated, reasons for the catastrophic failures of the air forces of various nations. Higham and Harris divide the air forces into three categories of defeat: forces that never had a chance to win, such as Poland and France; forces that started out victorious but were ultimately defeated, such as Germany and Japan; and finally, those that were defeated in their early efforts yet rose to victory, such as the air forces of Britain and the United States. The contributing authors examine the complex causes of defeats of the Russian, Polish, French, British, Italian, German, Argentine, and American air services. In all cases, the failures stemmed from deep, usually prewar factors that were shaped by the political, economic, military, and social circumstances in the countries. Defeat also stemmed from the anticipation of future wars, early wartime actions, and the precarious relationship between the doctrine of the military leadership and its execution in the field. Anthony Christopher Cain's chapter on France's air force, l'Armée de l'Air, attributes France's loss to Germany in June 1940 to a lack of preparation and investment in the air force. One major problem was the failure to centralize planning or coordinate a strategy between land and air forces, which was compounded by aborted alliances between France and countries in eastern Europe, especially Poland and Czechoslovakia. In addition, the lack of incentives for design innovation in air technologies led to clashes between airplane manufacturers, laborers, and the government, a struggle that resulted in France's airplanes' being outnumbered by Germany's more than three to one by 1940. Complemented by reading lists and suggestions for further research, Why Air Forces Fail provides groundbreaking studies of the causes of air force defeats.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 552 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2008-07
Category : Aeronautics
ISBN : UGA:32108043063869

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Air Force Magazine by Anonim Pdf

Author : Kenneth Werrell
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
Page : 498 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2024-06-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9781648431302

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Air Force Disappointments, Mistakes, and Failures by Kenneth Werrell Pdf

While successful developments in aviation receive considerable attention, the projects that failed or otherwise did not live up to expectations receive far less, if any, scrutiny. Typically, unsuccessful efforts are briefer in duration and have a less visible paper trail. Thus, while the literature is rich in success stories, we tend to “forget” or simply bury our failures. And, as one observer has suggested, “that there were failures, mistakes, and wrong turns reminds us that progress is not inevitable, that acknowledged error can be as instructive as success, and that roads not taken impose a price all their own.” Here, author Kenneth P. Werrell tells of a race to overcome obstacles—politics, resources, competing technologies, timing—in the quest to deliver quality, if not war-winning machinery. The focus of Air Force Disappointments, Mistakes, and Failures: 1940–1990 is on aircraft (e.g., bombers, fighters, transports) and missiles (e.g., cruise missiles, standoff missiles, ballistic missiles, surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles). An intelligence system is also evaluated. These case studies give the context and details of the development, testing, and, as appropriate, operational service. Highlighting the problems and criticisms of these systems then provides an opportunity to determine what went wrong. The reasons for the failures of these systems vary from the obvious (money, delays, technical problems) to more complex reasons, such as the foe’s reaction, politics, new technologies, and timing. The tale of these disappointments is a heretofore untold story. These projects, in which the US Air Force stumbled, are outliers within the overall success of the service, and, fortunately, its successes outnumber the failures.

Author : James S. Corum
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : STANFORD:36105131744307

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Wolfram Von Richthofen by James S. Corum Pdf

"For this first full-length biography of Wolfram von Richthofen, James Corum has mined the field marshal's extensive diaries, which provide a detailed record of military campaigns, tactical and operational problems, interactions with other commanders, and his assessment of methods and weaponry. He has also drawn on interviews with Former Luftwaffe members and on his unparalleled access to von Richthofen family papers and photos." "Cutting through the myths that have grown around von Richthofen's life, Corum's study fills a major gap in the literature and offers new insight into German military culture, Hitler's strategic thinking, and their impact on the German way of war."--BOOK JACKET.

Author : Randall Thomas Wakelam,David Varey,Emanuele Sica
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2021
Category : Air forces
ISBN : 0813180252

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Educating Air Forces by Randall Thomas Wakelam,David Varey,Emanuele Sica Pdf

Compared to armies and navies, which have existed as professional fighting services for centuries, the technology that makes air forces possible is much newer. As a result, these services have had to quickly develop methods of preparing aviators to operate in conditions ranging from peace or routine security to full-scale war. The first book to address the history and scope of air power professionalization through learning programs, 'Educating Air Forces' offers valuable new insight into strategy and tactics worldwide. Here, a group of international experts examine the philosophies, policies, and practices of air service educational efforts in the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, Canada, and the UK. The contributors discuss the founding, successes, and failures of European air force learning programs between the Great War and World War II.

Author : Michael Ray
Publisher : The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Page : 141 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 1900-01-01
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781622751457

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The History of Air Forces Around the World by Michael Ray Pdf

The introduction of aircraft to the world’s armed forces helped produce some of the greatest advances in modern warfare and led to the creation of air forces in many of the world’s militaries. This title’s comprehensive coverage of these developments makes it a must-read for history buffs, military enthusiasts, and fans of aeronautics alike. With specialized content dedicated to the missile age and the use of aircraft in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq wars, this book is highly relevant for anybody seeking to understand the new types of off-the-ground technologies—including unmanned aerial vehicles—that have become key for armed forces in the 21st century.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 660 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Electronic journals
ISBN : STANFORD:36105123406006

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The Journal of Military History by Anonim Pdf

Author : Robert M. Farley
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2014
Category : Air power
ISBN : 1461957354

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Grounded by Robert M. Farley Pdf

The United States needs airpower, but does it need an air force? In Grounded, Robert M. Farley persuasively argues that America should end the independence of the United States Air Force (USAF) and divide its assets and missions between the United States Army and the United States Navy. In the wake of World War I, advocates of the Air Force argued that an organizationally independent air force would render other military branches obsolete. These boosters promised clean, easy wars: airpower would destroy cities beyond the reach of the armies and would sink navies before they could rea.

Author : Robin Higham,Mark Parillo
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2013-03-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780813140728

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The Influence of Airpower upon History by Robin Higham,Mark Parillo Pdf

From early zeppelins, to the Luftwaffe and the Enola Gay, to the unmanned aerial vehicles of today, air power has long been regarded as an invaluable instrument of war. However, nations have employed aircraft for many other purposes as well; they provide security and surveillance, and they are vital to myriad diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. Air power has become a means for statesmen to advance a variety of goals, opening up new possibilities and problems in times of peace as well as war. The Influence of Air Power upon History examines the many ways in which aviation technology has impacted policymaking since 1903. It analyzes air strategy in nations around the world and explores how a country's presumed technological capability, or lack thereof, has become a crucial aspect of diplomacy. Together, the essays in this insightful volume offer a greater understanding of the history of military force and diplomatic relations in the global community.

Author : Robert A. Pape
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 547 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2014-04-11
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780801471506

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Bombing to Win by Robert A. Pape Pdf

From Iraq to Bosnia to North Korea, the first question in American foreign policy debates is increasingly: Can air power alone do the job? Robert A. Pape provides a systematic answer. Analyzing the results of over thirty air campaigns, including a detailed reconstruction of the Gulf War, he argues that the key to success is attacking the enemy's military strategy, not its economy, people, or leaders. Coercive air power can succeed, but not as cheaply as air enthusiasts would like to believe.Pape examines the air raids on Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq as well as those of Israel versus Egypt, providing details of bombing and governmental decision making. His detailed narratives of the strategic effectiveness of bombing range from the classical cases of World War II to an extraordinary reconstruction of airpower use in the Gulf War, based on recently declassified documents. In this now-classic work of the theory and practice of airpower and its political effects, Robert A. Pape helps military strategists and policy makers judge the purpose of various air strategies, and helps general readers understand the policy debates.

Author : John Andreas Olsen
Publisher : Potomac Books, Inc.
Page : 609 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : History
ISBN : 9781597977449

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Global Air Power by John Andreas Olsen Pdf

What influences have shaped air power since human flight became a reality more than a hundred years ago? Global Air Power provides insight into the evolution of air power theory and practice by examining the experience of six of the world’s largest air forces--those of the United Kingdom, the United States, Israel, Russia, India, and China--and of representative smaller air forces in Pacific Asia, Latin America, and continental Europe. The chapters, written by highly regarded scholars and military leaders, explore how various nations have integrated air power into their armed forces and how they have applied air power in both regular and irregular warfare and in peacetime operations. They cover the organizational, professional, and doctrinal issues that air forces confronted in the past, the lessons learned from victory and defeat, and emerging challenges and opportunities. Further, Global Air Power supplements the traditional military perspective with examinations of the ideological, economic, and cultural factors that give air forces their distinctive characters. Chapters show how the interplay among these internal factors, together with external challenges, determines the structure, role, and effectiveness of air forces. Together, these chapters illuminate universal trends as well as similarities and differences among the world’s air forces. Its combination of military history and sociopolitical analysis makes Global Air Power especially valuable to a broad range of historians, air power specialists, and general readers interested in national defense and international relations.

Author : General Giulio Douhet
Publisher : Pickle Partners Publishing
Page : 327 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2014-08-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781782898528

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Command Of The Air by General Giulio Douhet Pdf

In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.

Author : United States. Air Force ROTC.
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 68 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 1953
Category : Aeronautics, Military
ISBN : UIUC:30112100519765

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Air Science: Introduction to aviation by United States. Air Force ROTC. Pdf

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 694 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Strategy
ISBN : STANFORD:36105133479886

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Strategic Studies Quarterly by Anonim Pdf

Author : Gary Gault
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 70 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Aeronautics
ISBN : UOM:39015075629801

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United States Air Force 60th Anniversary by Gary Gault Pdf