Air-to-Air-Report-

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report would not have been possible without the help, advice, and hard work of a number of people. U.S. Air Force Colonel David Fahrenkrug substantially aided in forming the foundation of this report. My CSBA colleagues Barry Watts and Mark Gunzinger reviewed the initial draft and made numerous suggestions that greatly improved the content and clarity of the final version. Jim Thomas and Andrew Krepinevich reviewed later versions and made important contributions to improve it as well. Eric Lindsey and Ryan Boone contributed their talent converting my “cartoon” illustrations of many of the concepts into high-quality graphics. Kamilla Gunzinger and Jacob Cohn did a wonderful job editing multiple versions of this report and shepherding it through the publications process. Early versions of the analysis presented here were shown to audiences in the U.S. Air Force, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the aerospace industry, and defense analysis “think tanks.” Suggestions made by members of these communities helped to focus the analysis in some areas and broaden it in others to address specific issues and concerns raised here. I thank all of you for your help in seeing this through to completion. Finally, any errors contained in this report remain the responsibility of the author alone.
Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................I INTRODUCTION. ....................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: The Genesis of Air Combat. ................................................... 3 The Importance of Sensors and Communications as Situational Awareness Building Blocks ....7 CHAPTER 2: Analysis of “Missile-Era” Air Combat Trends. ...................................... 9 Dawn of the Missile Era ....................................................10 The Missile-Era Aerial Victory Database .........................................14 The Missile Comes of Age ...................................................17 1990s Aerial Combat and the Rise of Network Warfare ..............................22 Aerial Combat in the First Gulf War ............................................25 Details of Coalition Aerial Victories ............................................25 Prospects for Short-Range Combat ............................................29 CHAPTER 3: The Evolving Importance of Traditional Fighter Aircraft Attributes. ................... 31 Advantages of Speed ......................................................32 Costs of Speed ...........................................................35 Advantages of Maneuverability ...............................................39 Costs of Maneuverability ....................................................39 CHAPTER 4: An Alternate Vision of Future Aerial Combat. .................................... 41 Maximizing the Most Useful Attributes ..........................................41 A Future Vision ...........................................................43 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. .......................................................... 57 LIST OF ACRONYMS. .................................................................. 61
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