Air Power Development Centre #26: Offensive Air Power In Counter-Insurgency Operations: Putting Theory Into Practice (2008) By Glen Beck
 
Offensive air power has many strengths in modern warfare, but its utility in counter-insurgency warfare is not well understood. Many of air power’s traditional strengths, such as strategic strike, have limited use in a counter-insurgency warfare environment. In fact, employing offensive air power in a traditional manner may even undermine the effects being sought. Warfighters and planners must understand the fundamentals of counter-insurgency warfare in order to employ offensive air power effectively within its context. To ignore these fundamentals is to place at risk the broader outcome of the campaign. This paper examines the roles that offensive air power can conduct in support of counter-insurgency warfare and examines the strengths and weaknesses of these roles in creating the necessary effect. This paper analyses the employment of air power from an operational perspective and brings out the pros and cons of utilising platforms, sensors and weapons to support a counter-insurgency campaign. Ultimately, the impact of the air power contribution will relate to how well it supports the fundamentals of counter-insurgency warfare.
 
Soft Cover
58 Pages
In Fair to Good Condition