European Air Power

European Air Power examines the current state of eight separate European air forces and their prospective air power capabilities in a manner that will appeal to a wide audience of air force enthusiasts. Included are perspectives from independent air power experts reviewing the air forces of France, Germany, Turkey, and Great Britain as well as from the leaders of the air forces of the Nordic nations, including Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. Within the national security framework of threats and challenges, and against the seemingly universal backdrop of lower budgets for defense, the contributors present varying views on the types of air power capability a state should have and those it does not need. The contributors consider each air force separately and how each is structured to remain sustainable and efficient in accordance with its national strategic infrastructure.

Europe's air forces have the opportunity to make increasingly pronounced contributions to NATO's defense and deterrent posture in combat air campaigns, especially high-intensity operations requiring rapid and large-scale application of airpower.

"With a foreword by Air Vice-Marshal Tony Mason"--Cover.

What influences have shaped air power since human flight became a reality more than a hundred years ago? Global Air Power provides insight into the evolution of air power theory and practice by examining the experience of six of the world’s largest air forces--those of the United Kingdom, the United States, Israel, Russia, India, and China--and of representative smaller air forces in Pacific Asia, Latin America, and continental Europe. The chapters, written by highly regarded scholars and military leaders, explore how various nations have integrated air power into their armed forces and how they have applied air power in both regular and irregular warfare and in peacetime operations. They cover the organizational, professional, and doctrinal issues that air forces confronted in the past, the lessons learned from victory and defeat, and emerging challenges and opportunities. Further, Global Air Power supplements the traditional military perspective with examinations of the ideological, economic, and cultural factors that give air forces their distinctive characters. Chapters show how the interplay among these internal factors, together with external challenges, determines the structure, role, and effectiveness of air forces. Together, these chapters illuminate universal trends as well as similarities and differences among the world’s air forces. Its combination of military history and sociopolitical analysis makes Global Air Power especially valuable to a broad range of historians, air power specialists, and general readers interested in national defense and international relations.

"Examines the air power experience of a selected range of European countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Gulf War of 1991. The study offers an assessment of key issues influencing the evolution of air power in continental Europe. Amongst the main challenges are deployed operations, the intellectual grasp of air power doctrine, and the imbalance between combat aircraft and force enablers. Regarding the latter, the development of common capabilities that are equally available to both NATO and the European Union is crucial."--P. [4] of cover.

Fifteen NATO officers reveal the awesome strength and secret shortcomings of our most advanced aircraft, including the Linz helicopter, the Harrier jet, the F-4 Phantom, and others. Photographs, illustrations.