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Available
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Publication
Lexington, Ky. : University Press of Kentucky, c2006.
Description
Since the publication of the first edition of Why Air Forces Fail, the debate over airpower's role in military operations has only intensified. Here, eminent historians Robin Higham and Stephen J. Harris assemble a team of experts to add essential new details to their cautionary tale for current practitioners of aerial warfare. Together, the contributors examine the complex, often deep-seated, reasons for the catastrophic failures of the Russian, Polish, French, British, Italian, German, Argentine, and American air services. Complemented by reading lists and suggestions for further research, this seminal study with two new chapters provides an essential and detailed analysis of defeat.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Shrike58
To cut to the chase, the most generic cross-case explanation for why air forces fail in war is magical thinking. Too many powers bought into the more superficial claims of aviation enthusiasts and convinced themselves that sprinkling aircraft like fairy dust over their strategic problems would make
As for the specific essays, Rene De La Pedraja on the failures of Argentine combat aviation in the Falklands was possibly the most informative, seeing as he seems to have deeply mined the available analysis from both sides and makes a good argument that the Argentines could have won this war, if only the Galtieri junta had engaged in some hard-headed thinking. I also enjoyed the pieces on Poland, Italy, and Japan for their examination of the doctrinal weaknesses of those countries’ air services, and how this squandered what resources were available. Regretfully, I have to conclude that editor Robin Higham’s own piece on the Arab air arms of the Cold War is probably the weakest essay, if only because the archival foundations aren’t there to achieve the incisiveness of the other essays in this collection.
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everything better, and would allow them to ignore the hard imperatives of matching means to ends, logistical realities, and the reality that high-tech weaponry needs deep social and economic foundations to be effective.As for the specific essays, Rene De La Pedraja on the failures of Argentine combat aviation in the Falklands was possibly the most informative, seeing as he seems to have deeply mined the available analysis from both sides and makes a good argument that the Argentines could have won this war, if only the Galtieri junta had engaged in some hard-headed thinking. I also enjoyed the pieces on Poland, Italy, and Japan for their examination of the doctrinal weaknesses of those countries’ air services, and how this squandered what resources were available. Regretfully, I have to conclude that editor Robin Higham’s own piece on the Arab air arms of the Cold War is probably the weakest essay, if only because the archival foundations aren’t there to achieve the incisiveness of the other essays in this collection.
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Language
Physical description
382 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
9780813123745