The Quest for Relevant Air Power

16 │ POST–COLD WAR CHALLENGES
Courtesy US Navy
USNS Alan Shepard and aircraft carrier USS George Washington are
under way together during a replenishment at sea during ANNUALEX
21G in 2009.
while the number of Navy aircraft carriers was trimmed to 12. 16
Despite these reductions, the numbers are still impressive.
In Continental Europe, on the contrary, air power has never
enjoyed such a prominent role as in the United States, leading to a
major transatlantic capability gap. This gap became particularly
visible in the post–Cold War era, when air forces were actually
employed in major air campaigns. As late as 2003, a Dutch air
power expert complained that Europe was still not able to mount
an operation similar in complexity to Allied Force on its own. 17
Alliances
In the wake of the Cold War, NATO underwent a major transformational
process, culminating in an enlargement process. Simultaneously,
the European Union started to build its own defence
architecture. The ESDP is commonly perceived to be a
complementary arrangement to NATO. Both institutions have influenced
the development of European air power.
European Security and Defence Policy. The end of the Cold
War prompted the European Community member states to consider
extending cooperation to the sphere of security and defence
policy. With the Treaty on the European Union officially