nes the history of air power going back to World War I and the very first primitive aerial assault aircraft, the U.S. Army's 1908 Wright Military Flyer. He then proceeds to discuss the inter war years (1919-1939), World War II (1939-1945), the Korean War (1951-1953), the Vietnam War (1964-1975), Operation 'Just Cause' (1989), and the Persian Gulf War (1990-91).
Mr. Hallion uses detailed examples to illustrate the progression of air
and fire power from World War I to the Gulf War. Examples of the air
and fire power include such weapons as the 'smart' bombs, the Patriot surface-to-air missile, the A-10 "wart hog", and the BGM-109 Tomahawk.
Other notable technological advancements that played such a key role in the Allies control of the skies over Iraq are the Army AH-64 apache gunship and the sophisticated F-117A Stealth fighter.
In Mr. Hallion's book, he argues this one fundamental point.
The Gulf War confirmed that the technological advancements in air power, made it not only possible, but also realistic in win a "limited war" with air power alone (Hallion 74). Mr. Hallion makes several references to Vietnam and the Gulf War and discusses how different the two were in relation to each other. Before the wake of Desert Storm, many U.S. Allied commanders doubted the effectiveness of this new technology and still firmly believed ground troops would be called upon to secure victory in the occupied territory (Hallion 108). Mr. Hallion attributes this lack of confidence in air power to the lack of success the U.S. had with past co
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