Page 23 - May 2019

Feature Story
laws of armed conflict. This new kind indeed true that the current set of launching air or surface campaigns.
of conflict has been clubbed under the adversaries do not have significant air Control of the air may not be contested
generic term ‘irregular war’. power capabilities that could contest by state-of-the-art, technologically
The normal adversary in an irregular control of the air. sophisticated airborne systems in
war, which typifies contemporary conflict, However, developments in air power irregular wars. However, control of the
does not always possess significant have made it possible for irregular air is an asymmetry that conventional
air power capabilities. On the other forces to contest control of the air military forces leverage in combating
hand, the regular military forces of the through the concept of denial of the use non-state entities. Therefore, the irregular
nation-state tend to use their air power of airspace in a designated area and for adversary will always attempt to degrade
capabilities as the first-choice weapon, a pre-designated period of time. In an the asymmetric advantage through
emphasising air power’s ability to apply asymmetrical manner this is also control multifarious activities. The proliferation
force with discrimination, proportionality of the air delineated in time and space. and easy access to highly sophisticated
and precision. Air power’s rapid reaction It will be necessary for the nation-state’s and effective air defence systems aid the
capability also becomes an asset in air power to neutralise such defensive adversary to contest control of the air,
combating irregular forces. Under these bubbles and gain control of the air. This in an asymmetric manner. In turn, one
circumstances, control of the air is not is only one aspect of irregular warfare. asymmetric advantage is being neutralise
contested and the air assets of the The proliferation of missile technology by another asymmetric capability.
nation-state are free to roam in a benign and its ready availability to the non-state The characteristics and conduct of
environment without having to fight to actors have created another challenge. war have changed; conventional air
obtain the necessary control of the air. Surface-to-surface missiles create a power ranges through benign airspace
This has been the case nearly for the situation where friendly forces come in unquestioned control; but control of
past three decades. under fire and could be denied freedom to the air and the need to fight to obtain and
This situation has led to the need to manoeuvre. Again, control of the air needs maintain it at the required level can only
obtain and maintain definitive control to be obtained in these circumstances be underplayed at the one’s own peril.
of the air to being questioned in the with the degradation or destruction of the Airpower Development Centre
planning and execution of normal missile-launch facilities. The increasing U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Christopher Prout
military operations. sophistication of air defence systems that with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA)
The inference from the current state have also become available to irregular 232, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine
of affairs in the battlespace is that the forces makes the need to establish control Aircraft Wing shoots a AIM-7 Sparrow
assets that have been specialised for of the air a critical factor. The air losses missile from a F/A-18C Hornet aircraft
achieving control of the air are better inflicted by air defence systems to the near Tyndall Air Force Base
utilised elsewhere. Soviet air forces in Afghanistan during Florida, 3D Marine.
There are also viewpoints, often the erstwhile Soviet Union’s ill-fated,
vociferously expressed, that air forces decade-long intervention there from 1979
themselves could be abolished, based is a classic example of the critical
on the premise that control of the air is need to obtain control of
a given and therefore air power only the air before
needs to ‘support’ the surface battle
through strikes when required.
This view is completely
incorrect. It is

U.S. Marines fire the Stinger® weapon system during
Exercise Cold Response 16 in Orland, Norway, Feb. 24,
2016. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

23