Transformation of American Air Power - (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs) by Benjamin S Lambeth (Hardcover)

About the Book

Since the unprecedentedly effective performance of the allied air campaign against Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, the role of American air power in future wars has become a topic of often heated public debate. In this balanced appraisal of air...

Book Synopsis

Since the unprecedentedly effective performance of the allied air campaign against Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, the role of American air power in future wars has become a topic of often heated public debate. In this balanced appraisal of air power's newly realized strengths in joint warfare, Benjamin Lambeth, a defense analyst and civilian pilot who has flown in most of the equipment described in this book, explores the extent to which the United States can now rely on air-delivered precision weapons in lieu of ground forces to achieve strategic objectives and minimize American casualties.Beginning with the U.S. experience in Southeast Asia and detailing how failures there set the stage for a sweeping refurbishment of the nation's air warfare capability, Lambeth reviews the recent history of American air power, including its role in the Gulf War and in later conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Serbia. He examines improvements in areas ranging from hardware development to aircrew skills and organizational adaptability.Lambeth acknowledges that the question of whether air power should operate independently or continue to support land operations is likely to remain contentious. He concludes, however, that air power, its strategic effectiveness proven, can now set the conditions for victory even from the outset of combat if applied to its fullest potential.

Review Quotes

The Transformation of American Air Power, like Lambeth's other research published by RAND, is reasoned and informed. It should be read and thought about by all who are interested in questions of roles and missions and air power in its various manifestations.

A good description of weapons development and a current air force structure and mission is made even more valuable by a concluding chapter about air force philosoply, air power theory, and the battle over resources and doctrine.... Recommended as a good introduction to air power technology and ideology.

Ben Lambeth's new book, The Transformation of American Air Power, is destined to join the 'must read' list. At a time when air and space power is becoming a dominant force in peace and war in a global society, Lambeth provides a book which strips away much of the smokescreen invoked by those who would be threatened by a straightforward documentation of the failures and the most recent successes of air power since the Vietnam War.... The Transformation of American Air Power should be read by all military professionals and interested citizens who want to know more about the forces that will shape and dominate the Twenty-First Century commercial and military battlespace. Anyone called on to explain what air and space power means to all the United States will find this book a rich source of history and vision.

Lambeth's book is a synthetic and interpretive narrative that insightfully illuminates in a controversial way the numerous uses and misuses of US airpower during the last 35 years.... This seminal work is written at many levels and will be of particular use to military professionals and civilian policy makers.

This work is important for its historical research and for its policy relevance and should be read by students of the history of warfare and of American military policy.

About the Author

Benjamin S. Lambeth is a senior staff member at RAND. He is the author of Russia's Air Power in Crisis.