Clausewitz The future of the Air Power

Introduction
Major wars have almost always resulted in nations and enemies trying to come up with new strategies and weapons to perform even better next time. This phenomenon has made it interesting to try and predict how future wars will be fought. Many military and conflict scholars have written theories that have attempted to predict how future wars will be fought. Perhaps the most renowned among them is Carl von Clausewitz. Carl wrote a theory that has for quite some time now been used to predict how the elements of war interact in conflicts[footnoteRef:1]. Carl also wrote a theory that attempted to explain how various elements of war are frequently changing. In the theory, Carl focused more on the changing the social elements of war and downplayed the technological ones. In this paper, my argument is that the technological advances and innovations in the airpower, cyberspace, and space industries will alter the future of war and lead to social changes, political changes, new war concepts, new war doctrines, and new rules in the utilization of airpower. [1: Mark Clodfelter, "Back from the future: The impact of change on airpower in the decades ahead." Strategic Studies Quarterly 3, no. 3 (2009): 105-6.]
The nature of war is its essence. It is what differentiates it from other human activities or undertakings. The true nature of war is that it is usually political, interactive, and violent. If an activity or undertaking is not political, interactive, and violent, then it cannot be classed as war. It is some other activity[footnoteRef:2]. The character of war is its physical and cognitive manifestation[footnoteRef:3]. War manifests itself in both the physical and the cognitive domains. According to Carl von Clausewitz, the character of war is shaped by the groups or nations in war and their political goals and objectives[footnoteRef:4]. While the conduct of war is determined by military organization, type of government, societal norms, morality, culture, ethics, laws, technology, and several other factors which change and evolve with time. [2: JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF-JCS. "Joint Operating Environment JOE 2035: The Joint Force in a Contested and Disordered World. US Joint Chiefs of Staff, J7, Joint Force Development [cit. 2016-07-01]." (2016).] [3: JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF-JCS. Joint Operating Environment, 1-5] [4: Clodfelter, Back from the future, 105]
The role of airpower in historic wars
Historically, airpower was initially used in a major war during the First World War. Militaries used planes particularly for surveillance and observation activities during the First World War and this helped them to quickly deal with potential threats and negate enemy activities. This made it difficult for militaries to conduct flanking maneuvers leading to the emergence of trench warfare tactic and its high casualty rate. Simply put, the introduction of aircraft to war changed the future of war forever. In the Second World War, the allies were only able to combat German forces and their territories using airpower in the initial half of the war. This made it very difficult for the Germans to defend their territories and completely altered the character of war.
It is in the Second World War that militaries and nations also realized that the control of the air space was perhaps the most important determinant of success. Since then, most militaries across the world have been trying to gain superiority in the air to make sure that their ground forces can carry out maneuvers successfully without interference from adversaries. The fact that developed nations have been able to successfully develop lethal airpower as well as the rapidness of modern airpower are two factors that have completely changed how modern wars are fought. Wars are no longer conventional and fought on battlefields with ground forces. They are irregular and asymmetrical. Airpower evolution has made sure of that.
Airpower role in future wars
The most lethal air force in the world is the USAF (United States Air Force). The USAF is mandated to defend the country’s air space. It is also projects the country’s airpower during war. The USAF also has been charged with protecting the country in this information age. To be able to do this, the United States Air Force is relying on innovation and technological advances to carry out its 5 core missions of: command and control; global strike; rapid global mobility; ISR; and air and space superiority in and via cyberspace. Each of the Air Force’s critical systems is developed utilizing its cyberspace capabilities. From intercontinental ballistic missiles to trucks, satellites, and aircraft, most USAF systems rely operate and maneuver within cyberspace[footnoteRef:5]. And cyberspace capabilities will most likely very crucial to fighting, flying, and winning wars in the near future. This is exemplified best by the Multidomain Command and Control (MDC2), which will employ new concepts in future war. Of primary importance in MDC2 is the ability to employ both new and current war concepts and in bringing together joint and coalition capabilities across all military operations. [5: Willaim J. Bender and William D. Bryant. Assuring the USAF core missions in the information age. (Office of the Secretary of the Air Force Washington United States, 2016.) 4-5]
From the end of the Second World War, warfare has generally shifted towards firepower and greater mobility. This has meant more opportunities for the utilization of airpower to determine wars and to disrupt enemy ground forces and to support ground troops. Technological advances in airpower now mean that wars are fought over greater areas and over shorter periods compared to the past. This disruption in warfare’s time-space dimension places greater importance in the speed of response. And it means time management and control are potentially more important in modern and future warfare[footnoteRef:6]. Airpower can help in the control and management of both time and space. It can quicken the speed of response and deal a significant blow to enemy plans if rendered effectively. Airpower and its role in the future is illustrated in the current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) new policy on the use of drones. Drones have in the recent past revolutionized airpower through new capabilities and to this effect, the FAA issued rules that restrict the use of drone, particularly in densely populated spaces and flying drones over airports or military installation airspaces. [6: Adam Grissom. "The future of military innovation studies." Journal of strategic studies 29, no. 5 (2006): 905-934.]
Future wars in which case adversaries fight from areas populated with civilians, nonlethal airpower e.g. ISR can still be used. Airpower can also be used for surveillance and planning and for transport of soldiers to important locations. This has already been proven in Afghanistan where troops and Special Forces have been transported by helicopters to key locations after surveillance by drones and other means. Moreover, still in areas like Afghanistan, airpower has proven to be crucial in winning the hearts and minds of the locals through the provision of airlifts for those who are ill or injured and the transport of food aid and other materials to remote areas[footnoteRef:7]. Thus, in the case of wars being fought in such areas, airpower has already proven to be instrumental in increasing the likelihood of mission objectives being accomplished. To advance the use of airpower in accomplishing political changes, the government authorizes additional budget for the military for research and development to develop new technology that addresses the ever-changing political landscape in foreign policy. [7: Clodfelter. Back from the future, 112]
When looking at how air power will be applied in the future, two important areas must be considered. First, for the USAF to carry out its core missions effectively, it must continue to improve its capabilities. Only a completely capable USAF will be able to carry out all its core missions. Second, for the USAF to continue playing a key role in the defense of the United States, it also needs to improve its more nuanced airpower capabilities[footnoteRef:8]. This is especially important because such capabilities are needed in non-conventional wars such as those being fought in areas like Afghanistan. [8: Grissom, The future of military innovation studies, 905-934]
Conclusion
As it is evident above, airpower has already changed and will further change the future of war. The core missions of the USAF include air control, ISR, air mobility, and strike. These missions and the critical systems that enable them are continuing to be enhanced through the use of technology and cyberspace. The changes are impacting the tactical and operational use of airpower. They are also changing how wars are being fought and how they will be fought in the future. For instance, new technologies in aircraft manufacture have enabled the manufacture of faster and more stealth aircraft that have changed and will continue to change the character of war.
References
Bender, Willaim J., and William D. Bryant. Assuring the USAF core missions in the information age. Office of the Secretary of the Air Force Washington United States, 2016.
Clodfelter, Mark. "Back from the future: The impact of change on airpower in the decades ahead." Strategic Studies Quarterly 3, no. 3 (2009): 104-122.
Grissom, Adam. "The future of military innovation studies." Journal of strategic studies 29, no. 5 (2006): 905-934.
JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF-JCS. "Joint Operating Environment JOE 2035: The Joint Force in a Contested and Disordered World. US Joint Chiefs of Staff, J7, Joint Force Development [cit. 2016-07-01]." (2016).