The Future of Air Power in the Aftermath of the Gulf War

387 Pages·2003·16.09 MB·English

The Future of Air Power
in the Aftermath of the Gulf War
Editedby
Richard H. Shultz, Jr.
Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr.
International Security Studies Program
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Tufts University
Air UniversityPress
MaxwellAirForceBase,Alabama36112-5532
July 1992
(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)
Libraryof Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationData
The Future ofair powerintheaftermath oftheGulfWar/edited by
Robert L.Pfaltzgraff, Jr., Richard H. Shultz, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Airpower-United States-Congresses. 2. United States.Air
Force-Congresses. 3. Persian GulfWar. 1991-Aerial operations,
American-Congresses. I. Pfaltzgraff, Robert L. II. Shultz, Richard H.,
1947-.
UG633.F86 1992 92-8181
358.4'03'0973-dc20 CIP
ISBN 1-58566-046-9
FirstPrinting July 1992
Second PrintingJune 1995
ThirdPrinting August 1997
Fourth PrintingAugust 1998
FifthPrinting March2001
SixthPrinting July 2002
Disclaimer
Opinions, conclusions, and recommendationsexpressedorimplied within are solely thoseof
theeditorsanddo notnecessarily representtheviews of AirUniversity, theUnited States Air
Force, the Department of Defense, orany other US government agency.Cleared forpublic
release:distribution unlimited.
Contents
Page
DISCLAIMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
PART I
Strategic Factors Reshaping
Strategies and Missions
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Air Powerinthe New Security Environment . . . . . . . . . 9
Secretary ofthe AirForceDonaldB. Rice
Air Power inUS Military Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
DrEdwardN.Luttwak
The United States as an Aerospace Power
in the Emerging Security Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
DrRobertL.Pfaltzgraff,Jr.
Employing Air Power in the Twenty-first Century . . . . . . . 57
Col JohnA. Warden III, USAF
TheRole of the US Air Force in the
Employment of AirPower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Maj Gen Charles D. Link, USAF
PART II
Air Power as an Elementof
USPower Projection
Page
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Air Power sinceWorld War II: Consistent with Doctrine? . . 95
Dr Williamson Murray
Aerospace Forces and Power Projection . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
LtGen Michael A.Nelson, USAF
The Relevance of High-Intensity Operations . . . . . . . . . . 127
LtGen GlennA. Kent, USAF, Retired
Air PowerinLow- and Midintensity Conflict . . . . . . . . . 139
Gen LarryD. Welch, USAF,Retired
PART III
Air Power: Deterrence and Compellence
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Compellence and the Role of Air Power
as a Political Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
DrRichard H. Shultz, Jr.
Reinforcing Allied Military Capabilities
in a Global-Alliance Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
DrJacquelyn K. Davis
(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)
PART IV
Designing Aerospace Force Structures
Page
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Force Structure for the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Maj Gen RobertM.Alexander, USAF
The Air National Guard Today:
Looking to the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
LtGen John B. Conaway, National GuardBureau
Space: A New Strategic Frontier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
LtGen Thomas S. Moorman, Jr., USAF
PART V
Factors Affecting Force Structure and Missions
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Congress and National Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Hon Bud Shuster
Balancing Budgetary and Force Constraints . . . . . . . . . . 263
BrigGenLawrenceP. Farrell, Jr., USAF
The Impact of Arms Control on the US Air Force . . . . . . . 277
DrEdwardL. WarnerIII
TheSky'sthe Limit: ThePentagon's Victory
over the Press, the Public, and the Peaceniks . . . . . . . . . . 295
Ross Gelbspan
PART VI
Acquisition Priorities and Strategies:
A View from Industry
Page
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Research and Development Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Harold K. McCard
AdvancedTechnology Challenges
inthe Defense Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
DrJohnBlair
CONTRIBUTORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .357
Foreword
Air University is proud to have joined the Air Staff and the
International Security Studies Program oftheFletcher School ofLaw
and Diplomacy at Tufts University in sponsoring the April 1991
conference on aerospace challenges and missions that produced this
collection of essays. Written by a distinguished group of specialists
from academia, the military, government, business, and the media,
theseessays examine American national security policy and Air Force
issues from a variety of perspectives. Aside from their remarkable
perceptiveness, the contributions ofthe authors are especially timely
because they address the pivotal role of air power in the war with
Iraq. The essays leave no doubt that the employment of both
established and innovative methods of air combat in that crisis has
important implications for the global-security environment of the
future. In that sense, this book provides a foundation for evaluating
the complex policy challenges that we face in the 1990s and into the
nextcentury.
CHARLES G. BOYD
LieutenantGeneral, USAF
Commander
Air University

Preface
The United States has recently emerged victorious from a war
fought in the Persian Gulf against an opponent seasoned by eight long
years of war with Iran and armed with heavy armored and
mechanized divisions, as well as high-performance aircraft and
ballistic missiles. The results of the engagement of US air and ground
forces were unmatched in American military annals-the complete
defeat of the enemy's forces, first through a devastating air campaign
and then through a brilliant "Cannae-style" envelopment. In the
aftermath of this victory, it is incumbent upon the US military
services to undertake a sober reading of the diverse issues and
implications thatarose from the Gulf warand to bring these tobear in
planning for the international security environment of the 1990s and
beyond. This volume is an effort to do so with respect to the US Air
Force. It is the product of a major conference on the role of air power
and the Air Force in future American defense policy. The conference
was the first major reassessment, in an open forum, of the role of air
power following the Persian Gulfwar.
When the International Security Studies Program (ISSP) of the
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, decided to
hold a conference on "The United States Air Force: Aerospace
Challenges and Missions in the 1990s," we of course had no idea that
the dates of the conference would fall at the end of the largest
engagement of American military power since the Vietnam War. The
symposium was to be part of a series that the ISSP has designed to
assess the future of American national security through the prism of
each military service. The first conference had as its topic "US
Defense Policy in an Era of Constrained Resources," and the 1990;
program focused on challenges and missions for the US Army. The
next two programs will assess future doctrines, missions, and force
structures of the US Marine Corps and the US Navy in American
defense policy.
This volume has as its goal a broadexamination of the spectrum of
issues and choices facing the Air Force in the 1990s and beyond.