Swords of armageddon: A decision of the strategic mystique
To most Americans, our military and civilian political leaders included, the concept of strategic bombardment brings to mind a myopic vision of nuclear horror; and the long-range delivery systems most commonly associated with strategic warfare--the bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles--are not supported either by a review of the history of modern warfare or by current statements of air power doctrine, but they persist as a legacy of the destructiveness of the World War II strategic air campaigns and the enduring Soviet-American nuclear confrontation. This paper attempts to dispell these notions and advance a concept of flexibility in strategic force application and US strategic policy formulation. It suggests that individual strategic actions have relevance in large and small, nuclear or nonnuclear wars and that our bombers and even our intercontinental missiles can and should be considered as viable force options in a variety of scenarios. The discussion concludes that strategic attack has historically been and will continue to be an active military mission that can be accomplished in numerous ways by a wide variety of weapons and delivery systems despite a continuing mystique of nuclear holocaust.
- Research Organization:
- Air Univ., Maxwell AFB, AL (USA). Airpower Research Inst.
- OSTI ID:
- 6970200
- Report Number(s):
- AD-A-215905/1/XAB; AU-ARI-CP--87-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
450400* -- Military Technology
Weaponry
& National Defense-- Nuclear & Radiological Warfare-- (1990-)
AIRCRAFT
ASIA
DISTANCE
EASTERN EUROPE
EUROPE
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
MILITARY PERSONNEL
MILITARY STRATEGY
MISSILES
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PERSONNEL
USA
USSR
VIABILITY
WARFARE
WEAPONS