Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority: World War II, Luftwaffe, RAF, Battle of Britain, Soviet Air Force, Operation Overlord, Pacific, Air War Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Israel

Professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction, this unique USAF publication is an anthology of essays about some of the most important air superiority campaigns in history. The case studies in this volume, encompassing several major air-to-air battles, eloquently demonstrate why the quest for air superiority remains critically important for today's Air Force.

The historical roots of air superiority date to the First World War, which marked the emergence of the fighter airplane, offensive and defensive fighter doctrine, and the trained fighter pilot. By the end of the war, the Imperial German Air Service had been decisively outfought, and though occasional bitter air combat still occurred, the Allied air arms were free to harass and attack German ground forces wherever and whenever they chose. After the war, there were defense commentators who injudiciously predicted—not for the last time—that the era of dogfighting was over; higher aircraft speeds would make maneuvering air combat a thing of the past. Instead, the lesson of the importance of air superiority was rediscovered in the skies over Spain, and confirmed again throughout the Second World War. Having tenaciously wrested air superiority from the Luftwaffe, the Allies in 1941 went on to achieve genuine air supremacy, a situation acknowledged by General Dwight Eisenhower, who, riding through Normandy after D-Day, remarked to his son: "If I didn't have air supremacy, I wouldn't be here."

Sadly, many of these lessons were lost in the post-Second World War era, when technology advances—supersonic design theory, nuclear weapons, and "robot" aircraft—seemed to signal an end to the traditional air-to-air fighter—even though the experience of the Korean War demonstrated that transonic jet combat was not merely possible, but the new normative form of air warfare. Indeed, the fighter airplane underwent a dramatic transformation into a nuclear-armed strike aircraft, now that popular wisdom held that surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles foreshadowed the end of the era of "classic" air combat. That prediction collapsed in the face of the Vietnam war and the experiences of the Middle East. The 1970s witnessed both a revolution in fighter aircraft design (spawned by the technology advances of the 1960s and 1970s) and a return to basics in both design fundamentals and the training of fighter pilots. Operations in the Falklands war, over the Bekaa Valley, and most recently, during Desert Storm confirmed not only the benefits of this revolution and rediscovery, but also the enduring importance of air superiority.

Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority * Chapter 1 - Developments and Lessons Before World War II * Chapter 2 - The Luftwaffe Against Poland and the West * Chapter 3 - The RAF and the Battle of Britain * Chapter 4 - The Soviet Air Force Against Germany and Japan * Chapter 5 - Northwest Africa, 1942-1943 * Chapter 6 - Operation Overlord * Chapter 7 - Air Superiority in the Southwest Pacific * Chapter 8 - Air War Against Japan * Chapter 9 - Korea * Chapter 10 - Southeast Asia * Chapter 11 - The Israeli Experience * Chapter 12 - Some Concluding Insights