The Redefinition of Strategic Airpower

摘要

Strategic airpower. ... The words still bring to mind the image of B-29s launching from Saipan or B-52s over Hanoi. Since Gulf War Ⅰ in 1991, however, the concept of "strategic" airpower has been stretched to include not just heavy bombers but bomb droppers of all types―from stealthy F-117 fighters to pilotless cruise missiles. It was Operation Iraqi Freedom, though, that redefined the planning and execution of strategic airpower once and for all. B-52s equipped with targeting pods dropped laser guided bombs. A B-1B carried out a quick-response strike targeting Saddam Hussein and his top henchmen. Stealthy B-2s attacked Republican Guard targets. In sum, all the old strategic airpower targeting categories went out the window. Gone, too, were preconceived ideas about phasing and timing, overwhelming blows, and the place of strategic attacks within the joint campaign. Neither the most enthusiastic airman nor the "shock-and-awe" crowd nor the media pundits could have foreseen exactly how diverse and flexible strategic airpower would turn out to be.