Suddenly so much love for cruise missiles

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Suddenly lots of people talk about Europe needing cruise missiles to deter Russians.

Let's look at what this implies.

• It certainly implies that deep strike is important (and has deterrence value).
• It also implies that Europeans without the U.S. don't have enough deep strike capability.
• It also implies to add those cruise missiles remedies that deep strike capability deficit.

This is not wholly nonsense, but there's a really, really big 4th implication:

• It implies that these people understand there's another way of doing strategic air war (or specifically deep strikes) than the American way of (strategic air) war.

That's something I've been trying to convey, for I saw very little awareness for this. 

 

To build a very expensive, very big air force with lots of specialised aircraft for a doctrine that requires very intricately-synchronised strike packages is not the only way how you can blow up an oil refinery 1,000 km deep in the enemy's rear area.

You can also simply send a missile that he doesn't intercept (maybe because he only intercepts the other missiles in the air at the same time or maybe because it's too difficult to intercept or maybe you launched when he's not ready to defend).

I'm waiting for more such insight breakthroughs by establishment types. Maybe they'll at some point recognise that our focus on the standing army is ill-advised compared to a focus on wartime strength (reserves!)? Maybe they'll understand that ships are targets and submarines can hardly sink anything that you cannot sink by land-based aircraft? Maybe they'll understand that generals, admirals and experts are very often in disagreement, which proves that they're not always correct? Maybe they might recognise that Russia is not about to invade NATO simply because mobilised Russia is badly outnumbered by a demobilised NATO minus Americans and the Russian armed forces are crap level forces comparable to Iraq 1990 at most?

 

related:

/2009/11/tacair-of-future.html 

/2010/07/first-week-of-peer-vs-peer-air-war.html 

/2016/01/air-force-strike-packages-and-peer-wars.html

/2018/03/luftwaffe-f-35-or-typhoon-for-airground.html 

/2024/05/reviewing-my-theses-on-air-power-in.html 

S O
defence_and_freedom@gmx.de

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