A key element of innovation involves arranging familiar things into new combinations. Flying airplanes from ships led to the demise of battleship dominance. Integrating tanks, airplanes, and radios in a unique way enabled blitzkrieg operations across Europe. Making dumb bombs smart by using satellite guidance provided the modern imagery and allure of pinpoint destruction. Most of the time—and in all of the examples above—such innovations involve cultural and organizational changes as well as the insights of forwardthinking people. And so it is with the new concept of airpower presented here, Instantly Basing Locust Swarms.

This study by Lt...

During the Battle of Britain, British Spitfires and Hurricanes scrambled aloft from geographically dispersed air bases to intercept attacking German fighters and bombers. Formations of Luftwaffe aircraft had already demonstrated their destructiveness during the opening campaigns of World War II, but the British people were unfazed and rallied behind Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s famous call for “victory at all costs—victory in spite of all terrors.”¹ Beyond national spirit, Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) had another advantage. It had an integrated air defense system (IADS) consisting of Chain Home radar stations, centralized command and control centers, and fighter aircraft capable...

As noted, military strategy integrates war objectives, planning, and “series of actions” so that wartime operations mesh with politicians’ grand strategy.¹ The planning process, however, must consider existing capabilities of fielded weapons. Development and production of new weapons and equipment takes time, and the constant state of readiness demanded of military forces does not support strategies built on unproven technologies. During a 2004 meeting with deployed military personnel in Kuwait, then–secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld’s comment “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time”...

In the 1990s, Martin Libicki proposed that the future of warfare might include a “mesh” of highly integrated sensors, weapons, and information technologies capable of immediately finding, identifying, and targeting adversaries.¹ He argued that the miniaturization of military equipment and weapons and their integration with advanced computer technologies would create an environment where “the large, the complex, and the few will have to yield to the small and the many.”² Beyond his emphasis on information technologies and the networked employment of joint military forces, Libicki’s ideas are especially important to the future of airpower because they emphasize the combined capability...

During his limousine ride back to the White House, Pres. Dominic Johnson was thinking how the Washington skyline looked especially beautiful. Snow, streetlights, traffic, and a starry sky created a kaleidoscope of colors. Christmas Eve services at the National Cathedral had gone well, and he looked forward to some sleep and a peaceful Christmas morning with his wife and children. The president cherished moments like these because they were free of crisis, were shared with his family, and had nothing to do with the upcoming 2020 election.

Johnson’s mood quickly changed when he spotted Sarah Nguyen, his national security advisor,...