Combat Air Support

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that aviation was only eleven years old when war broke out in 1914, but the obvious military potential of aircraft inspired a tremendous acceleration in aviation technology during the next four years. The author points out that the concept of combat air support, specifically coordinating offensive tactical air power with ground force operations, remained virtually non-existent until 1939 when the Nazis introduced the world to an even more frightening new form of warfare, which they called 'blitzkrieg'. The paper relates that, by the Gulf War in 1991, the AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship with its computer controlled, multiple target tracking systems and night vision capabilities rounded out the modern close air support and ground attack capabilities of the American military.

Table of Contents
The Origins of Military Aviation
The Luftwaffe Introduces Tactical Combat Close Air Support
The Evolution of Tactical Combat Air Support
Modern Combat Air Support

From the Paper:

"The machine gun accounted for most of the casualties in World War I trenches, so in very short time, it was also adapted for use in aircraft, but it remained too difficult to employ effectively as a tactical weapon until the Germans introduced the interrupter gear that enabled accurate forward firing through the propeller. By war's end, military aircraft had evolved to the point that squadrons of fast, nimble combat aircraft fought bitter duals to the death high above the battlefield. The British pioneered the development of maritime aircraft, even successfully deploying HMS Ark Royal (subsequently renamed Pegasus), the world's first, albeit primitive, "aircraft carrier" in limited combat."

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