Abstract
In trying to chart the way ahead for air power there are obvious difficulties. First, the subject merits a book in itself, and only key aspects could ever be seriously addressed within a single chapter. Second, to look into the future is to enter the realms of speculation, for future defence needs will inevitably be something of a lottery. However, planning only for the short term is bound to end in failure, and in no field is this more true than in that of air power.
Remember the one great thing to which you should at all times apply your thoughts and brains is the expansion of the power of materiel and personnel without increasing either.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Trenchard, addressing the RAF Staff College
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Notes
For 7440th order of battle and operational record see: Streetly, Martin, ‘Composite Wing Proven in the Gulf’ in Jane’s Defence Weekly, 31 August 1990, p. 370.
During the Gulf Conflict the USAF formed an air superiority composite wing: the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing. Source: Streetly, Martin, ‘Composite Wing Proven in the Gulf’ in Jane’s Defence Weekly 31 August 1990, p. 370.
See for example: Boatman, John, ‘USAF Shake-Up puts Emphasis on Composite Wings’ in Jane’s Defence Weekly, 11 January 1992, p. 48.
For example, if the radar cross-section of an aircraft or missile were reduced by a factor of ten, the radar detection range would be one-third of the original value. See: Brinkley, Colonel Randolph H., ‘Future US Fighters are at a Cost/Technology Crossroad’, in Armed Forces Journal International, January 1991, p. 49.
Coriolis, Kelvin, ‘The True Cost of Aircraft in Service’, Jane’s Defence Weekly, 27 September 1986, pp. 682–3.
Bowie, C., ‘The Way Ahead for the RAF 2014a US Perspective’, in unpublished MOD Journal, August 1990, pp. 283–5.
See: Gross, Charles J., ‘Reserve Forces — The USAF Perspective’, in unpublished MOD Journal, February 1991.
Gross, Charles J., ‘Reserve Forces’, February 1991.
Source: Baldwin, Nigel, ‘Reserves and Auxiliaries — The RAF Perspective — Broadening Our Base in Society’, in unpublished MOD Journal, February 1991.
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© 1996 Andrew G. B. Vallance
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Vallance, A.G.B. (1996). Things to Come? Some Thoughts on Future Developments. In: The Air Weapon. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24420-1_9
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