Airpower Through WW I

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Airpower Through WW I
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Airpower!!
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Airpower Through WWI

• Define Air and Space Power
• Competencies
• Distinctive Capabilities
• Functions
• Air and Space Doctrine
• Principles of War
• Tenets of Air and Space Power

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Airpower Through WWI

• Lighter-than-air vehicles
• Potential of the airplane
• Heavier-than-air vehicles
• Early Uses of Airpower
• Airpower in WWI
• The Battle of Air Supremacy
• American Participation in WWI

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Airpower Through WWI

• Close Air Support and Interdiction in WWI
• Development of Tactics in WWI
• Strategic Bombing Theorists
• Lt Col Edgar S. Gorrell (American)

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Air and Space Power

• The synergistic application of air, space, and
  information systems to project global strategic
  military power.
• AFDD 1

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Air and Space Power

• Synergistic application
• Air, Space, and Information Systems
• To project global strategic military power

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Core Competencies

• Fundamental qualities that enable the Air Force
  to develop and deliver air and space power
• (1.) Developing Airmen
• (2.) Technology-to-warfighting
• (3.) Integrating Operations

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Distinctive Capabilities

• Capabilities that the Air Force does better than
  any other service.
• Air and Space Superiority
• Information Superiority
• Global Attack
• Precision Engagement
• Rapid Global Mobility
• Agile Combat Support

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Functions

• Functions Missions
• Broad, fundamental, and continuing activities of
  air and space power not unique to the Air Force

Air Refueling Spacelift Special
Ops Intelligence Surveillance and
Reconnaissance Combat Search and Rescue
(CSAR) Navigation and Positioning Weather Services
Strategic Attack Counterair Counterspace Counterla
nd Countersea Information Operations Combat
Support Command and Control (C2) Airlift
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Doctrine

• A belief in the best way to implement/use air and
  space power
• Based on
• - History
• - Technology
• - Future Threats
• - Leaders Experiences
• Provides Guidance
• Must NOT Stagnate

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Doctrine Examples

• WWI
• - Armies vs. Machine Gun
• WWII
• - Daylight, High Altitude, Unescorted
  Precision Bombing

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CFD Model
Time Period Distinctive Capabilities Functions (missions) Doctrinal Emphasis
Pre- WW I Information Superiority Surveillance Reconnaissance Artillery Spotting Gathering Military Info to support land forces



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Principles of War

• those aspects of warfare that are universally
  true and relevant.
• -Joint Pub 1

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Principles of War

• Historically Tested
• Apply equally to all U.S. Armed Forces
• Unity of Command, Objective, Offense, Mass,
  Maneuver, Economy of Force, Security, Surprise,
  Simplicity

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Principles of War

• UNITY OF COMMAND Ensures unity of effort for
  every objective under one responsible commander.
• OBJECTIVE Directs military operations toward a
  defined and attainable objective that contributes
  to strategic, operational, or tactical aims.
• OFFENSIVE States that we act rather than react
  and dictate the time, place, purpose, scope,
  intensity, and pace operations. The initiative
  must be seized, retained, and fully exploited.

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Principles of War

• MASS Concentrates combat power at the decisive
  time and place
• MANEUVER Places the enemy in a position of
  disadvantage through the flexible application of
  combat power.

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Principles of War

• ECONOMY OF FORCE Creates usable mass by using
  minimum combat power on secondary objectives.
  Makes fullest use of forces available.
• SECURITY Protects friendly forces and their
  operations from enemy actions which could provide
  the enemy with unexpected advantage.

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Principles of War

• SURPRISE Strikes the enemy at a time or place
  or in a manner for which he is unprepared.
• SIMPLICITY Avoids unnecessary complexity in
  preparing, planning, and conducting military
  operations.

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Other Principles

• Restraint limits collateral damage and prevents
  unnecessary or unlawful use of force
• Perseverance ensures commitment necessary to
  attain desired end state
• Legitimacy develops and maintains the will
  necessary to attain desired end state

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Tenets

• Fundamental truths that are unique to the air and
  space environment.
• - Centralized Control and Decentralized
  Execution
• - Flexibility/Versatility
• - Synergistic Effects
• - Persistence
• - Concentration
• - Priority
• - Balance

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Tenets

• Centralized Control/Decentralized Execution
• Air power must be controlled by airmanJFACC
• Delegation of execution authority
• Flexibility and Versatility
• Exploit mass maneuver simultaneously
• Parallel attacksparallel attacks at strategic,
  operational, and tactical levels
• Synergistic Effects
• Higher effectiveness than sum of individual
  contributions

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Tenets

• Persistence
• Continuous efforts
• May need to hit targets more than oncedo not
  need to remain in close proximity to do so
• Concentration
• At a point where it will be decisive
• Avoid spreading air and space power to thin
• Priority
• Prioritize applications to have greatest impacts
• Must consider finite force structure
• Balance
• Principles of war and Tenets
• Offensive and defensive application of power
• Strategic, operational, and tactical impacts

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Early Years of Flight Introduction

• Man first flew aloft in a balloon in 1783
• Airpower did not have an immediate impact
• Flying machines were not readily accepted by land
  oriented officers
• Airpowers first major impact was not until World
  War I

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Balloons

• Montgolfier Brothers flew first hot-air balloon
  in 1783
• Ben Franklin saw first balloon flight and
  immediately he saw military potential
• First used for military purposes by the French in
  1794 at Maubege.
• Union and Confederate forces employed balloons
  during the American Civil War

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Balloons

• Adolphus W. Greely, the grandfather of military
  aviation in U.S., revived interest in military
  capability of balloons in 1891
• - 1898 - Greely balloon used to direct
  artillery fire during the Battle of San
  Juan Hill
• Interest in balloons dropped quickly with the
  development of heavier-than-air vehicles

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Dirigibles

• Steerable balloons -- often called Airships
• 1884 -- first successful flight in a dirigible
• Ferdinand Von Zeppelin -- person most readily
  identified with dirigibles
• - Zeppelins first flown in 1900
• - Germans used to bomb England in WW I
• - Germans used to fly observation cover for
  their surface fleet in WW I
• Vulnerable to winds and ground fire

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The Early Years of Flight

• Uses of Balloons and Dirigibles
• - Reconnaissance
• - Artillery spotting
• - Bombing (extremely limited prior to WWI)
• - Morale Booster/Escape Means
• - Air transport of supplies

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Early Pioneers of Flight

• Otto Lilienthal -- studied gliders and first to
  explain the superiority of curved surfaces
• Percy Pilcher -- built airplane chassis
• Octave Chanute -- Developed a double
  winged-glider/wrote history of flight to1900
• Samuel P. Langley -- First to secure government
  support to develop an airplane
• - Failed twice to fly from houseboat in 1903
• - Congress withdrew monetary support

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Orville and Wilbur Wright

• First to fly a heavier-than-air, power-driven
  machine -- 17 December 1903
• - Flight traveled 120 feet and lasted 12
  seconds
• Approached flying scientifically and
  systematically
• Used experience of Lilienthal, Pilcher and
  Chanute
• Built a glider in Dayton in 1899
• - Moved to Kitty Hawk, N. Carolina in 1900

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Reactions to the Wrights Invention

• U.S. government was very skeptical at first
• - Not interested because of the Langleys
  failures
• Britain and France were very enthusiastic
• President Roosevelt directed the Secretary of
  War, W. H. Taft, to investigate the Wright
  brothers invention in 1906
• Dec.1907 -- Chief Signal Officer, BG James Allen,
  issued Specification 486 calling for bids to
  build the first military aircraft

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Signal Corps Specification 486

• Established the requirements for the first
  military aircraft. Aircraft must be able to
• - Carry 2 persons
• - Reach speed of 40 mph
• - Carry sufficient fuel for 125 mile nonstop
  flight
• - Be controllable in flight in any direction
  
• - Fly at least one hour
• - Land at take-off point, without damage
• - Be taken apart and reassembled in one hour
• - No military operational requirements
  specified

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Specification 486 (Cont)

• 41 proposals were received, only 3 complied with
  specifications
• U.S. Army signed contract with Wright brothers on
  10 Feb 1908
• Wright brothers delivered the first military
  aircraft on 20 Aug 1908
• U.S. Army accepted the first operational aircraft
  on 2 Aug 1909

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Early Flight Video
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The Early Years of Flight

• Until WWI balloons, dirigibles and aircraft were
  primarily reconnaissance vehicles
• Early on, the flying machines were not seen as
  weapons of war
• Few believed the flying force was ready to
  separate air force
• The potential uses of the airplane would evolve
  considerably during WWI

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World War I -- Missions

• Reconnaissance Collecting visual and
  photographic information
• Counterair Air-to-air combat
• Close Air Support Support of ground forces
• Interdiction Striking enemy resources close to
  the battlefield
• Strategic Bombing Strikes deep into enemy
  territory to destroy war making capabilities

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WWI Early Uses of Airpower

• Reconnaissance and artillery spotting
• - Took away the element of surprise
• - Hampered by weather / unserviceable
  aircraft
• Pursuit Aviation (Air superiority)
• - Grew out of attempts to deny
  reconnaissance
• - 1st air-to-air kill occurred in Oct. 1914
• - Developed rapidly in WWI
• - Key to winning the air war

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WWI Technological Developments

• Roland Garros (French) Developed metal strips
  for propellers so machine gun bullets would not
  shatter the props
• Anthony Fokker (Dutch) Designed synchronizing
  gear so bullets would pass through the spinning
  propeller blades

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WWI Technological Developments

• Nieuports and Spads (French) most reliable and
  flexible aircraft in 1916
• Fokker Triplane German aircraft that put the
  Germans back on top in 1917

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American Participation in WWI

• When U.S. entered the war in April 1917, US Air
  Service was totally unprepared
• - Aviation Section had 56 pilots and less
  than 250 airplanes -- none ready for combat
• Congress approved 640 million in July 1917 to
  raise 354 combat squadrons
• At the end of WWI, Air Service had 183,000
  personnel and 185 squadrons

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Strategic Bombing in WWI

• Limited in scope and intensity
• Had a negligible outcome on the war
• Laid the foundation for future thought

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Bombing of Britain

• Germans conducted daylight bombing raids against
  Britain using Zeppelins - 1915-16
• - Stopped because of poor results
• Germans reinitiated daylight raids using Gotha
  bombers in 1917 ineffective
• Germans begin night bombing using Zeppelins and
  Reisen bombers 1917-18 Primarily terror raids
• Strengthened British morale, destroyed little war
  making capacity

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Allied Bombing of Germany

• Began in 1914 generally ineffective
• British bombed German cities and airfields in
  retaliation for German strikes
• Allies created the Inter-Allied Independent Air
  Force (IAIAF) in 1919 for the purpose of bombing
  Germany.
• - War ended before the IAIAF was used

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Strategic Bombing Theorists

• Sir Hugh Trenchard
• Giulio Douhet

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Sir Hugh Trenchard

• Commander of the Royal Air Force
• Primary target should be civilian morale
• Believed allies should attack German homeland
• Attack around the clock

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Giulio Douhet

• General in the Italian Army
• Believed airpower was supreme after WWI
• Believed bombers would win all wars
• Air weapon would be used against ports, railroads
  and economic structures
• Best way to gain air superiority was to destroy
  the enemys ground organization

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Giulio Douhet

• Once air superiority was achieved, bombers would
  concentrate on cities to destroy industry and
  morale
• Influenced by Italian geography where there was
  little threat of a ground invasion
• His doctrine led to total war conceptwar on the
  nation as a whole, not just military forces

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Lt Col Edgar S. Gorrell

• Theories mirrored Trenchard, but felt bombing
  should concentrate on one city at a time until
  destroyed
• Ignored during war, ideas recognized in 1930s
• Believed best way to stop Germans was to destroy
  production
• Stressed continuous day/night bombings to deprive
  Germans of rest and repair time
• Proposed attacks of single to target to complete
  destruction

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Review of CFD Model

• Distinctive Capabilities Air and space
  expertise, capabilities, and technological
  know-how that produces superior military
  capabilities
• Functions Broad, fundamental and continuing
  activities of air and space power
• Doctrine fundamental principles which military
  forces guide their actions in support of national
  objectives

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CFD Model
Time Period Distinctive Capabilities Functions (missions) Doctrinal Emphasis
Pre- WW I Information Superiority Surveillance Reconnaissance Artillery Spotting Gathering Military Info to support land forces
Post WW I Information Superiority Precision Engagement Surveillance Reconnaissance Counter Air Strategic attack Strategic attack, of military targets


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Airpower Through WWI

• Define Air and Space Power
• Competencies
• Distinctive Capabilities
• Functions
• Air and Space Doctrine
• Principles of War
• Tenets of Air and Space Power

52
Airpower Through WWI

• Lighter-than-air vehicles
• Potential of the airplane
• Heavier-than-air vehicles
• Early Uses of Airpower
• Airpower in WWI
• The Battle of Air Supremacy
• American Participation in WWI

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Airpower Through WWI

• Close Air Support and Interdiction in WWI
• Development of Tactics in WWI
• Strategic Bombing Theorists
• Lt Col Edgar S. Gorrell (American)