November 4, 2018
Ghost of AirLand Battle: Why the Army and Air Force Must Work Together (think Russia and China)
Welcome to the era of great-power competition.
by Michael Peck
Back in 1982, when the West feared that hordes of Soviet tanks would bulldoze through the outnumbered NATO armies and gobble up Europe, the U.S. Army and Air Force grappled with how to stop them. They came up with a strategy called AirLand Battle , in which the Army ground units would maneuver around the clumsy Soviet columns like a matador around a bull, baffling and stabbing him on his flanks. While the Army held the front, the Air Force would be pounding Soviet depots, command centers and reinforcements in the rear, using the then-revolutionary smart bombs.
But a funny thing happened after the Cold War. The Army and Air Force went their own ways.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/ghost-airland-battle-why-army-and-air-force-must-work-together-think-russia-and-china
