I’m not an airpower guy, but I enjoyed this episode on airpower in irregular warfare.
“…the effort is going to go towards training and developing partners in order to compete with Chinese influence in places like Africa and South America. That’s going to be role for SOF – the biggest role – in Great Power Competition for special operations.
Armed Overwatch: Airpower in Irregular Warfare—Past, Present and Future – Modern War Institute
During the episode, the guests talk about the fact that sometimes you don’t need the most technically-able aircraft. In fact, depending on the conflict, you might need something old and slow.
This reminds me of a conference I attended years ago discussing outfitting the Afghan air force. Really, what they needed was legacy aircraft from last century. Slow flying so you can actually see what’s on the ground. This makes sense to anyone who has played an air combat video game and tried to do a strafing run going mach 1.
As the guests indicate, there is a bias – especially in air communities – towards fast, more advanced, and newer.
I like the idea of pilots flying an F-35 one day, an F-16 the next, and then an F-4 the last, based on the need.
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Carrying the Gun 