Airpower successes and failures in modern military operations

Airpower: Biggest Success and Failure Stories
Operation Desert Storm was one of the biggest successes for air forces in modern warfare history. In the operation, coalition air forces led by the United States Air Force (USAF) were able to plan and execute a strategy that was able to liberate Kuwait city from Iraqi and its allies that had taken over Kuwait. The success took concerted effort, quality leadership, quality training, quality equipment, and quality personnel. Without any of these components, it is likely that it could have failed. The personnel, the weapons and the aircraft did better than was expected. Ingenuity and reliable systems proved to be the key to the flexibility that was needed to modify plans and work around hurdles that emerged during the operation. The success of operation desert storm showed that air force doctrine and equipment were well prepared for the task that awaited them. It also shows that the USAF could cooperate and coordinate with other friendly forces to successfully complete a mission and maintain air superiority. The success also revealed that air power could be effectively utilized to gain and maintain control in most crises within a relatively short period of time and without exposing troops to much harm (AIR FORCE PERFORMANCE IN OPERATION DESERT STORM para 1-4). The very first flight by man in 1903, heralded a new era in warfare. It was not long after that flight that military generals started deploying aircraft in combat and other operations. Over the years, the role of airplanes in warfare has increased steadily. The technology and weaponry on aircrafts has also gradually improved throughout time making airpower one of the most important components of war. The first and second World Wars demonstrated the importance of integrating an air strategy to gain an advantage or to defend a position during battle. Later wars such as the Operation Desert Storm proved that airpower could be utilized to quickly and quietly achieve political and military objectives.
However, even with the great success of that air forces have had in military, superior airpower does not automatically provide success in war. Several cases have shown this. For example, in the war in Kosovo, the war in Afghanistan, and the Vietnam War, airpower did not quickly achieve and maintain the superiority it was thought to automatically provide. More specifically, in the Vietnam War, the United States entered the war to prevent the northern government from supporting Viet Cong rebels in the south. Though this was the immediate reason to enter the war, the United States government also wanted to generally prevent the spread of communism in that part of the world. The Vietnam operation was known as Operation Rolling Thunder and focused heavily on airpower. However, the operation did not provide the kind of success that was expected of it. Many military analysts agree that it was largely unsuccessful. Although the airpower was overwhelming, it proved to be blunt for use in guerilla warfare. The airpower also resulted in heavy collateral damage with little overall success. It is thought that a ground focused incursion could perhaps have saved many lives. The war in Kosovo also had its fair share of problems. It was one of the few wars in which the operations relied on airpower alone with no enforcing ground forces. This strategy too proved unsuccessful. From this, it has been gathered that it is important to integrate airpower strategy with other military strategies to quickly and effectively achieve military objectives. Airpower is more of an enabler that can put to achieve key military objective. However, overall success requires a concerted military effort (Clark para1-8).


Works cited
Clark, Paul Leo. “Has ‘Strategic’ Airpower Failed to Live up to Its Promise?” E-International Relations, 2013, www.e-ir.info/2013/01/30/has-strategic-airpower-failed-to-live-up-to-its-promise/.
“AIR FORCE PERFORMANCE IN OPERATION DESERT STORM.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/appendix/whitepaper.html.