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Characteristics and Limitations of Air

Power

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Characteristics and Limitations of Air
Power

“Airpower is the most difficult of all forms of military

force to measure, or even to express in precise
terms."
Winston Churchill - 1946

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Characteristics and Limitations of Air
Power

 Just as Churchill’s annotation, the characteristics

of airpower itself are so diverse and eclectic

 No two authorities are congruent over all of them,

although the main characteristics remain
common

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Primary Strengths

 There are arguably three primary strengths of air

power since its inception: -

 Height
 Speed
 Reach

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Primary Strengths

Height
 Height is the attribute that makes air power, “the
third dimension” of war
 From the very inception, height gave air power
the advantage of being difficult to detect, track
and attack
 U-2 and SR-71 black bird could fly
reconnaissance above 85,000 feet with impunity
throughout cold war
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Primary Strengths

Speed
 Speed gives airpower, the ability to be “first to
reach the battle field”. Just for comparison; the
fastest naval ships travels at a speed of 30 mph;
the fastest tank travels at speed of 50mph,
however, a fighter can travel at a speed of 800mph

 Speed gives airpower, surprise and first shot

capability
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Primary Strengths

Reach
 Reach means that airpower is not hindered by land or sea
based obstacles like mountains or sea as it soars above it
 As for comparison, 30% of Earth is comprised of Land,
70% of water but 100% is covered with air and that makes
air power reach anywhere anytime
 Air refueling has further enhanced this attribute
H G Wells said
"In the air there are no streets, channels and all directions
can lead everywhere"

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Secondary Strengths

Secondary strengths are not unanimously agreed

upon. However, they came in later with the
advancement of air power

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Secondary Strengths

Responsiveness
 Air Power has ability to respond to any sort of
aggression immediately
 Responsiveness is achieved by the virtue of
speed, reach and height
 The German Blitzkrieg utilized air power
responsiveness to capitulate the enemy. PAF
deployment in Ops Sentinel and Ops Vigilance
that thwarted IAF belligerence was show of
responsiveness
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Secondary Strengths

Lethality
 Lethality is the most terrifying attribute of air
power that can break enemy’s will and force him
into submission

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Secondary Strengths

 In operation over Tora-Bora in Afghanistan

“BLU-82/B 15,000-lb bomb used in Tora-Bora could
penetrate a cave 80 feet inside the earth.”

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Secondary Strengths

Precision
 The modern delivery systems; aided with lasers
and GPS have granted precision to the airpower
 This enhances cost-effectiveness and reduces
Circular Error of Probability (CEP)

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Secondary Strengths

Penetration
 Air power systems can circumvent obstacles and
penetrate deep into enemy territory
 Space-based surveillance systems are relatively
invulnerable and monitor the entire surface of
globe virtually unhindered
 In modern air power, use of Airborne Warning
and Control System (AWACS) look hundreds of
miles around and direct fighters into aerial battle
field
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Secondary Strengths

Firepower
 Fire power is the quantum of destructive bombs
and missiles delivered to the enemy’s center of
gravity within a span of time
 No tank or ship can unleash the ghastly
firepower which air power does. A B-52 can carry
up to 27 Mk-82 with 40 Cluster Bombs
 This equates to about 33,500 kg of bombs by just
one B-52
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Secondary Strengths

Flexibility
 Air power has flexibility since aircrafts have no
maneuvering limitations like ships and tanks
 Aircrafts like Gripen, Typhoon and Flanker are
known as Swing Role fighters
 Based on situation, they can change radar mode
from air-to-ground in to air-to-air with press of a
button

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Secondary Strengths

Ubiquity
 Ubiquity means “ever ready presence”. Who can
claim this ability more than air power? Most types
of aircraft can operate anywhere at any time

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Secondary Strengths

Concentration
 Concentration means projection of force at right
time in right quantity
 Speed and reach combined with ubiquity enable
air power to concentrate force

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Secondary Strengths

Synergy
 Air power utilized its multiple tiers like UAVs,
Surveillance Aircrafts, Fighters and bombers
together to create a synergistic effect
 The effect of whole is far greater than sum of all
individual put together

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Weakness / Limitations of air power

 Air power has some weaknesses as well that can

offset its advantage if exploited timely

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Weakness / Limitations of air power

Fragility
 Air power has two contrasting attributes. It is
lethal when it attacks but it is very fragile when
hit itself
 1967 Arab Israel war, IAF destruction 400 Syrian
and Egyptian fighters, mostly on ground amply
explains how aircrafts are sitting ducks on
ground

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Weakness / Limitations of air power

Limited Pay Load

 Unlike ships or land vehicles, aircrafts can carry
very limited fuel and armament
 Characteristics such as drag, space available for
weapons and hard points define what can be
loaded on to an aircraft

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Weakness / Limitations of air power

Impermanence
 After winning command over aerial battlefield,
aircrafts cannot hold it up permanently like land
forces can
 Fuel, maintenance and armament compel aircraft
to return to base
 Air-refueling can increase it to some extent;
however, maintenance and rearmament cannot
be done in air
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Weakness / Limitations of air power

Information Dependence
 Air power can only be effective if correct
information is provided to it. It depends upon
Meteorology, Air traffic services, target
Intelligence details and enemy threat knowledge

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Conditional Characteristics

 The conditional characteristics are those which

can act in either a positive or a negative sense
depending on the nature of the existing
conditions

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Conditional Characteristics

Cost
 In terms of cost, quality of machine depends
upon cost. If one wants economy, one has to
compromise of technology
 It is true for weapon systems, simulators, aircrew,
specialist personnel, ground support equipment,
spares and air bases

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Conditional Characteristics

Base Dependence
 Base act as mother of air power. Since most
bases are fixed places, they are soft targets.
However, if we talk of aircraft carrier, it is always
on the move and hard to be located and hence
less vulnerable

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Conditional Characteristics

Sensitivity to Technology
 If the air power does not walk in tandem with
technology, it becomes ineffective
 In modern era, any fighter without AI radar and
ECM suite is blind. Such aircraft can still fly but
will be at the mercy of enemy SAMs and Air-to-
Air missiles

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Questions
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