Accession Number:

ADA573582

Title:

Air Power in Irregular Warfare

Descriptive Note:

Master's thesis

Corporate Author:

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA DEFENSE ANALYSIS DEPT

Personal Author(s):

Report Date:

2012-12-01

Pagination or Media Count:

175.0

Abstract:

History is full of with examples of innovations that have proved essential to victory in war. But few innovations have provided the consistent and often decisive impact that air power has delivered in conflict. Across its relatively short history, the concept of air power has maintained a resiliency of innovation across the doctrinal, strategic, organizational, and technological levels. However, warfare itself has witnessed significant changes over the course of the last century. No longer is the classical, conventional state-on-state conflict the principal method of combating ones enemies. In its place, irregular warfare IW has arguably become the norm in conflict today. However, we have yet to see air power applied to modern-era irregular conflicts with the same level of success achieved in past conflicts. This thesis examines the use of air power in IW to answer several questions. What organizational forms are associated with the successful use of air power in irregular warfare What technologies What concepts of operations What level of coherence between strategic and operationaltactical execution is associated with the successful use of air power in IW And finally, what should the future role of air power in IW be

Subject Categories:

  • Humanities and History
  • Military Forces and Organizations
  • Unconventional Warfare

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE