In virtually every conflict in which airpower has played a part, it has been used to some degree to attack enemy ground forces. While sometimes taking a back seat to the struggle for air superiority or strategic bombing campaigns, ground attack has always been there influencing the outcome. What ground attack, or “counterland” to use the current doctrinal terminology, has often lacked a systematic analysis of how best to achieve success against the enemy.¹

I propose one such analytical framework in this study. I do not address the question of the proper role of airpower in war; issues such as...

To develop a practical analysis of how to attack an army with airpower, we must first examine the various components that comprise such an army. While modern armies vary somewhat in form and function, there are certain generalities that exist within all mechanized ground forces. One legacy of the cold war is that many, perhaps most, of our potential targets use former Soviet hardware. With the current economic crunch in the former Soviet Union, it is likely to continue exporting military equipment to anyone willing to buy it. Many of the nations that have purchased Russian weapons have also adopted...

At the heart of affecting the enemy army through air attack lie two questions: Which parts of the enemy’s army are most critical to its function, and how vulnerable are those parts to attack. In this chapter the author examines the weapons that airpower brings to bear on the enemy, then looks in detail at the questions of criticality and vulnerability of each component of a typical army.

The first concern for the ground attack planner is what operational effects are required by the overall strategy. Particular attention must be paid to how the various interdiction and CAS results will...

One of the key factors in ground attack planning is ensuring that the right targets are hit at the right time to support the overall strategy. In this chapter I briefly examine the development of combined arms strategy and AirLand Battle, then review current US Army doctrine as stated in Field Manual (FM) 100-5, Operations. Combined arms doctrine has heavily influenced current US military thought, and FM 100-5 is the US Army’s basic guidance for the operational commander. By understanding the ground force commander’s operational and tactical outlook for various situations, the air planner can use his own forces more...

Although airpower made tremendous technological gains during the 54 years spanned by these examples, there are some general truths and lessons that can be gleaned from such a systematic study. Many of today’s principles of attack aviation were in place by 1918; much of the subsequent change has simply involved adapting to the vast increases in speed, range, payload, and targeting accuracy. Although air defenses have also improved drastically, the trench strafing environment of World War I was as dangerous to the wood-and-fabric biplanes of the era as the SAM-infested skies over Vietnam would prove to the supersonic fighters of...

Now that we have examined the operational and tactical aspects of ground attack, and briefly reviewed some historical applications, a framework can be constructed to assist the airpower planner in his task. This framework is a simple guideline, and there are exceptions to every rule. It does, however, expose the airpower strategist or student to the key considerations for using airpower to destroy, disrupt, delay, divert, or demoralize enemy ground units.

As all good planners are taught, we must begin with national level objectives, develop a national strategy to support those objectives, and work our way down through congruent military...