Transcript Advent of the Air Age: World War I

Airpower Through WW I
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Airpower!!
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Airpower Through WWI
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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
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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
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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
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Synergistic
application
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Air, Space, and
Information Systems
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To project global
strategic military
power
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Core Competencies
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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.
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Air and Space Superiority
Information Superiority
Global Attack
Precision Engagement
Rapid Global Mobility
Agile Combat Support
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Functions
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Functions = Missions
Broad, fundamental, and continuing activities
of air and space power not unique to the Air
Force
Strategic Attack
Counterair
Counterspace
Counterland
Countersea
Information Operations
Combat Support
Command and Control (C2)
Airlift
Air Refueling
Spacelift
Special Ops
Intelligence
Surveillance and
Reconnaissance
Combat Search and Rescue
(CSAR)
Navigation and Positioning
Weather Services
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Doctrine
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A belief in the best way to implement/use
air and space power
Based on:
- History
- Technology
- Future Threats
- Leaders’ Experiences
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Provides Guidance
Must NOT Stagnate
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Doctrine Examples
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WWI
- Armies vs. Machine Gun
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WWII
- Daylight, High Altitude, Unescorted
Precision Bombing
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CFD Model
Time
Period
Pre- WW I
Distinctive
Capabilities
Information
Superiority
Functions
(missions)
Surveillance & Reconnaissance
Doctrinal
Emphasis
 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
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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
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UNITY OF COMMAND: Ensures unity of effort for
every objective under one responsible commander.
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OBJECTIVE: Directs military operations toward a
defined and attainable objective that contributes to
strategic, operational, or tactical aims.
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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
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MASS: Concentrates combat power at the
decisive time and place
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MANEUVER: Places the enemy in a position of
disadvantage through the flexible application of
combat power.
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Principles of War
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ECONOMY OF FORCE: Creates usable mass by
using minimum combat power on secondary
objectives. Makes fullest use of forces available.
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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
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SURPRISE: Strikes the enemy at a time or
place or in a manner for which he is
unprepared.
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SIMPLICITY: Avoids unnecessary complexity
in preparing, planning, and conducting
military operations.
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Other Principles
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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
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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 airman…JFACC
 Delegation of execution authority
 Flexibility and Versatility
 Exploit mass & maneuver simultaneously
 Parallel attacks…parallel 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 once…do 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
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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
Airpower’s first major impact was not until
World War I
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Balloons
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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
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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
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Interest in balloons dropped quickly with
the development of heavier-than-air
vehicles
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Dirigibles
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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
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Vulnerable to winds and ground fire
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The Early Years of Flight
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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
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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
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First to fly a heavier-than-air, power-driven
machine -- 17 December 1903
- Flight traveled 120 feet and lasted 12 seconds
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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 Wright’s
Invention
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U.S. government was very skeptical at first
- Not interested because of the Langley’s failures
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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Reconnaissance and artillery spotting
- Took away the element of surprise
- Hampered by weather / unserviceable aircraft
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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
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Roland Garros (French)– Developed metal
strips for propellers so machine gun
bullets would not shatter the props
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Anthony Fokker (Dutch)– Designed
synchronizing gear so bullets would pass
through the spinning propeller blades
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WWI Technological
Developments
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Nieuports and Spads (French) – most reliable
and flexible aircraft in 1916
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Fokker Triplane – German aircraft that put
the Germans back on top in 1917
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American Participation in WWI
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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
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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
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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
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Germans conducted daylight bombing raids against
Britain using Zeppelins - 1915-16
- Stopped because of poor results
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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
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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
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Sir Hugh Trenchard
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Giulio Douhet
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Sir Hugh Trenchard
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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
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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 enemy’s ground organization
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Giulio Douhet
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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 concept—war
on the nation as a whole, not just military
forces
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Lt Col Edgar S. Gorrell
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Theories mirrored Trenchard, but felt bombing
should concentrate on one city at a time until
destroyed
Ignored during war, ideas recognized in 1930’s
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
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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
51
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
52
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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