Case studies in the achievement of air superiority

698 Pages·1994·16.24 MB·English

by  Benjamin Franklin Cooling

SPECIAL STUDIES
Case Studies in the Achievement of
Benjamin Franklin Cooling
Editor
AIR
FORCE
HiStBry
MzGeumS
PROGRAM 1994
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Case studies in the achievement of air superiority / edited by Benjamin
Franklin Cooling.
632 p. cm.--(Special studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-912799-63-3
1. Air warfarexase studies. I. Cooling, B. Franklin.
11. United States. Air Force. Center for Air Force History.
111. Series: Special studies (United States. Air Force. Center for
Air Force History)
UG630.C277 1991 90-29998
358.4’ 14-dc20 CIP
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402
Foreword
Writing in 1978, General William W. Momyer, former Commander of
the Tactical Air Command and a distinguished veteran fighter pilot, stated
that:
The contest for air superiority is the most important contest of all. for no other
operations can be sustained if this battle is lost. To win it, we must have the best
equipment, the best tactics, the freedom to use them, and the best pilots.
Certainly, the wide-ranging case studies examined in this book confirm this
message, as do more contemporary experiences from the Falklands War,
the Bekaa Valley, and, most recently, the Gulf War of 1991.
The historical roots of air superiority date to the First World War,
which marked the emergence of the fighter airplane, offensive and defen-
sive fighter doctrine, and the trained fighter pilot. By the end of the war, the
Imperial German Air Service had been decisively outfought, and though
occasional bitter air combat still occurred, the Allied air arms were free to
harass and attack German ground forces wherever and whenever they
chose. After the war, there were defense commentators who injudiciously
predicted-not for the last time-that the era of dogfighting was over;
higher aircraft speeds would make maneuvering air combat a thing of the
past. Instead, the lesson of the importance of air superiority was rediscov-
ered in the skies over Spain, and confirmed again throughout the Second
World War. Having tenaciously wrested air superiority from the Luftwaffe,
the Allies in 1941 went on to achieve genuine air supremacy, a situation
acknowledged by General Dwight Eisenhower, who, riding through Nor-
mandy after D-Day, remarked to his son: “If I didn’t have air supremacy, I
wouldn’t be here.”
Sadly, many of these lessons were lost in the post-Second World War
era, when technology advances-supersonic design theory, nuclear weap-
ons, and “robot” aircraft-seemed to signal an end to the traditional air-to-
air fighter-even though the experience of the Korean War demonstrated
that transonic jet combat was not merely possible, but the new normative
form of air warfare. Indeed, the fighter airplane underwent a dramatic
transformation into a nuclear-armed strike aircraft, now that popular wis-
dom held that surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles foreshadowed the end of
the era of “classic” air combat. That prediction collapsed in the face of the
Vietnam war and the experiences of the Middle East. The 1970s witnessed
both a revolution in fighter aircraft design (spawned by the technology
advances of the 1960s and 1970s) and a return to basics in both design fun-
damentals and the training of fighter pilots. Operations in the Falklands
war, over the Bekaa Valley, and most recently, during DESERTS TORMco n-
firmed not only the benefits of this revolution and rediscovery, but also the
enduring importance of air superiority.
During DESERTS TORM(w hich occurred while this book was in press)
the airmen of the United States Air Force established air superiority over
Iraq and occupied Kuwait from the outset of the war, defeating the Iraqi air
force both in the air and on the ground. By so doing, they created the con-
ditions essential for decisive air war. Strike and support aircraft and heli-
copters could go about their duties without fear of molestation from enemy
aircraft. Iraq’s forces, pinned in place, were denied any respite from pun-
ishing air attack. Because of coalition air supremacy, coalition land opera-
tions could be undertaken with an assurance, speed, and rapidity of pace
never before seen in warfare. Bluntly stated, the Gulf war demonstrated
that with air superiority, General Norman Schwarzkopf could undertake
his famed “Hail Mary” play. Lacking air superiority, Iraq paid dearly. Its
111 Corps became vulnerable to air attack-stuck in a traffic jam out of
Kuwait City on the “Highway of Death.”
Air superiority, like democracy itself, must be constantly secured and
renewed. In recognition of this, the United States Air Force is developing
the F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter to ensure that America retains its tech-
nological edge well into the 21st century. The case studies in this volume,
encompassing several major air-to-air battles, eloquently demonstrate why
the quest for air superiority remains critically important for today’s Air
Force.
RICHARD P. HALLION
Air Force Historian
United States Air Force
Historical Advisory Committee
Professor Roger E. Bilstein Col. Donaid S. Lopez
University of Houston USAF, Retired
Clear Lake National Air and Space
Museum
Dr. Christopher J. Bowie Mr. Felix C. Lowe
The RAND Corporation Smithsonian Institution Press
Lt. Gen. Charles G, Boyd Dr. Peter Paret
Commander, Air University Institute for Advanced Study
Professor Wayne S. Cole Ms. Ann Petersen
University of Maryland The General Counsel, USAF
College Park
Lt. Gen. Bradley C. Hosmer Gen. Bryce Poe, I1
Superintendent, USAF USAF, Retired
Academy Air Force Historical
Foundation

Acknowledgments
The essays in this anthology of air superiority campaigns were written
by some of the nation’s foremost military and air historians. Individuals
who participated in the review of the entire manuscript included Gen.
William W. Momyer, USAF (Ret.); Dr. Richard H. Kohn, Chief of the Office
of Air Force History; Dr. Alfred Goldberg, Office of the Secretary of
Defense; Dr. Dennis Showalter of Colorado College; and Col. Fred Shiner,
Herman S. Wolk, and Bernard Nalty from the Center for Air Force History.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin Cooling served as general editor of the volume.
Laura Dahljelm of Center for Air Force History edited the manuscript
and gathered the photographs and artwork, and Anne E. Johnson shep-
herded the book through the publications process. Financial support was
provided by Col. John A. Warden I11 of the Office of the Air Force Deputy
Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations.
Photographs appearing in this volume are primarily from the collec-
tions at the Department of Defense Still Media Records Center, the National
Air and Space Museum, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives.
Those sources of illustrations outside official U.S. government repositories
are noted.
“MiG Sweep,” by renowned aviation artist Keith Ferris, is reproduced
on the cover and dustjacket, courtesy of the USAF Art Collection. Lori
Crane of Headquarters Air Force Graphics designed the cover, and Kathy
Jones supplied the art for reproduction.
vii

Contents
Page
Foreword ..................................................... v
Acknowledgments ............................................. vii
Introduction ................................................... xiv
1 Developments and Lessons Before World War I1
Leonard Baker and B. F. Cooling ........................... 1
2 The Luftwaffe Against Poland and the West
Williamson Murray ........................................ 65
3 The RAF and the Battle of Britain
Robin Higham ............................................ 115
4 The Soviet Air Force Against Germany and Japan
Kenneth R. Whiting... ..................................... 179
5 Northwest Africa, 1942-1943
David Syrett .............................................. 223
6 Operation OVERLORD
W. A. Jacobs... ........................................... 271
7 Air Superiority in the Southwest Pacific
Joe Gray Taylor ........................................... 323
8 Air War Against Japan
Alvin D. Coox ............................................. 383
9 Korea
Thomas C. Hone .......................................... 453
10 Southeast Asia
Thomas C. Hone .......................................... 505
ix
11 The Israeli Experience
Brereton Greenhous ....................................... 563
12 Some Concluding Insights
I . B . Holley. Jr ............................................. 609
Contributors .................................................. 627
Index ......................................................... 633
Maps
RAF/Luftwaffe Bases .......................................... 131
British Radar Cover ............................................ 156
German Invasion of Russia ...................................... 191
Operation TORCH.. ............................................. 230
Tunisia ........................................................ 234
Eighth Air Force Targets ........................................ 282
"Big Week" Operations ......................................... 289
Southwest Pacific ............................................... 326
Central Pacific ................................................. 350
The Philippines ................................................. 358
Military Districts of Japan ....................................... 388
Boundaries for the Air Armies ................................... 420
Korea ......................................................... 456
North Vietnam with Exclusion Zones ............................. 516
USAF Bases in Southeast Asia ................................... 519
North Vietnam Route Package Areas ............................. 529
North Vietnam Early Warning Radar ............................. 542
USAF Air Refueling Patterns .................................... 548
The Middle East ................................................ 564
Photographs
Sopwith Camel ................................................. 4
Fokker Eindecker .............................................. 5
Count Gianni Caproni de Taliedo ................................. 8
Maj . Gen . Hugh Trenchard ...................................... 12
Guilio Douhet; Brig . Gen . William Mitchell ....................... 13
X