A Better Way to Measure Combat Value

摘要

While air power technologies and operational concepts evolved over the course of World War II, Airmen realized the theory of strategic attack from the air was valid. Over the ensuing decades, they remained committed to investing in mission tools that would better meet air combat requirements. In 1991, their success was dramatically demonstrated by the F-117 stealth fighters that struck across the breadth and depth of Iraq during Operation Desert Storm with disproportionate effects relative to nonstealth aircraft. Thanks to the protections afforded by stealth technology, precision weapons, and an innovative effects-based targeting strategy, these aircraft did not require fighter escort. With both sums normalized for 2019 dollars, the F-117, at a unit cost of $50,560,960, was dramatically more expensive to acquire than the B-17 with a unit cost of $3,383,450. However, where it took 863 World War II-era bombers to eliminate one target then, only 20 F-117s were used to strike 28 separate targets in just one hour, 50 years later. Using a simple cost-per-effect model and normalized dollar figures, the cost per target in 1991 was $36 million, down from $292 million per target during World War II. Add in the cost of fighter escorts, the larger crews for World War Ⅱ bombers, the relative cost of spare parts, fuel, logistical support, and basing infrastructure, and the difference grows.