BATTLEFIELD OF THE FUTURE

BATTLEFIELD OF THE FUTURE
of gravity in "parallel" and with "hyper" speed really a new
theory of war? Szafranski argues that "simultaneous and
integrated attacks have long been the goal of combined arms .
Attacks on the leader and leadership are not new goals of
warfare, whether the enemy was viewed as a system, or not, in
the past." Col Szafranski adds that the nuclear attack single
integrated operations plan (SIOP), long used by the US Air Force
Strategic Air Command, "promoted and planned for parallel war
and hyperwar long before 'the five rings' came into vogue ."
While Col Warden's essay implies that the five-rings strategy
can work against very large states like China, or versus almost
any adversary, Col Szafranski limits its utility to smaller
industrialized states and is dubious regarding utility against
terrorist or insurgent organizations . "Worse," writes Szafranski,
"airpower cannot make the decisive and dominant contribution
to [counterterrorism and counter-insurgency] much to the
chagrin ofairpower advocates ."
Col Warden was a key planner and organizer of the allied air
campaign that gave the Coalition air superiority over Saddam
Hussein's air force in the 1991 Gulf War . Parallel war and
hyperwar did shock and paralyze the Iraqi state and its
military forces . Warden's essay suggests that this same
parallel war and hyperwar approach, emphasizing airpower as
the key to rapid and complete victory, can and should be
applied in future conflicts in the twenty-first century .
However, Col Szafranski argues that this theory of fighting
wars, and the central role assigned to airpower in it, does not
apply to all kinds of conflicts . Szafranski contends that we still
have not found a theory of airpower and air strategy that
applies universally . Indeed, this leads to the question of
whether or not one air doctrine and military strategy for all
contingencies can be effective across the entire spectrum of
types of conflicts and types of adversaries that the United
States and its allies may confront in the future . Perhaps,
instead, there should be a search for multiple air doctrines for
various alternative types of conflicts and enemies .
The reader can decide for himself or herself what is new or
different in Col Warden's "air theory for the twenty-first century,"
and whether the same strategy will work across the spectrum
of conflicts . What both Col Warden and Col Szafranski do
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