1. Application of Air Power: Roles and Employment Options
Air Power – Lesson 2
Application of Air Power:
Roles and Employment Options
Learning Objectives:
To introduce the roles and applications of air power
2. To introduce the levels of force application
3. To explain the range and types of conflict
4. To list functional organisation of military air operations

2. Air Power – Recap Lesson 1
What is the ATC Definition of Air Power?
What adjustments have been made to definitions in RAF doctrine publications since 2015?
List the UK’s Principles of War?
What are the principle strengths of air power?
…and what are air power’s key limitations?
Use Notes/Handout from Lesson 1 to guide the recap discussion; list answers on White Board

3. Intelligence Surveillance Recce
Fundamental Roles
The Roles of Air Power
Control of the Air
Intelligence Surveillance Recce
Attack
Air Mobility
There are four fundamental roles of air power: control of the air; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; attack; and air mobility – as shown on the slide
Let’s look at how these can work together in a short case study – Operation ELLAMY

4. Applying Air Power
Operation ODYSSEY DAWN (Known in UK as Operation ELLAMY)
At 0300 hours on Friday 18 March 2011, UK forces were directed to act fast to get an operation in Libya underway. By 0800 hours, the RAF declared readiness to attack key regime air defence nodes in Libya, with four Tornado GR4 combat aircraft, equipped with Stormshadow cruise missiles, in support of military strategic objectives. The Prime Minister granted approval for the mission at 2000 hours on Saturday 19 March and the aircraft departed the UK at midnight. Tankers provided air-to-air refuelling for the attack aircraft and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft acted as their ‘eyes and ears’.
The success of the 71⁄2 hour mission provided a demonstration of air power’s reach and responsiveness. It was the longest attack mission since the ‘Black Buck’ raids in the Falkland Islands conflict and the first flown from the UK since World War II. It paved the way for ten subsequent missions that destroyed other key command and control targets. Most importantly, in terms of influence and messaging, in less than 18 hours, the RAF had converted a political instruction into tangible action, towards a desired strategic end-state.
(JDP 0-30, 2nd Edition, page 16)
Question to class: How many roles of air power were involved in Operation ELLAMY?
Answer: The Op employed all the roles of air power, demonstrating that air capabilities can be applied to meet different military and political aims. Let’s unpack the theory a little further.

5. Air Power – Employment Options
Preserving Peace and Strengthening International Security
Managing International Crises
Armed Conflict
These represent the RANGE of circumstances for air power’s utility
The transition here is to return from current operations to the CURRENT (2018) ATC syllabus
Air Power can be a key enabler for preserving peace. Although the political intention to safeguard the Libyan population during the Arab Spring ultimately failed, that was not the consequence of using air power to intervene in Op ELLAMY.
We will explore each of these three options in turn

6. Preserving Peace & Strengthening International Security
Promoting international relations
Providing reassurance
The main ways air power supports peace is by promoting international relations and by providing reassurance –
Question: Give an example of promoting international relations; Answer: Humanitarian Aid
Question: How can Air Power provide reassurance as a means of strengthening international security? Answer: E.g. deployment of RAF assets to the Baltic States since 2015, as a counter to potential Russian aggression. While four Typhoons cannot stem a mass armoured advance, their presence helps to send a message of coalition mutual support in times of heightened political tension, reinforcing that NATO is serious about Article 5 – an attack on one member state is an attack on all of them.
Can any of you think what circumstances might be considered to be an “International Crisis”?
How could air assets be used to manage international crises? Which characteristics of air power help to deliver a reassuring effect? [ELICIT IDEAS FROM CLASS]
Examples of Promoting international relations include using the characteristics ‘reach’ and ‘speed of response’ to offer support to natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, flood and famine. UK use of air power to support such responses generates a great deal of goodwill, helps to remove suspicion of UK government motives (because we never raise an invoice for such support), helps alleviate historical grievances and can promote the stability and security of the regime that is in power in the affected nation: stability is generally ‘a good thing’. EXAMPLE – Flood Relief in Bangladesh, Hurricane response in Haiti
Reassurance builds confidence by averting threats to peace, whether real or imagined, through joint and combined air operations, with air and space surveillance activities to prvide assurance to a vulnerable nation that a potential antagonist is not about to launch an attack. EXAMPLE – No 140 Expeditioary Air Wing deploying to Oman for joint training on Exercise SAIF SAREEA III in October 2018; assets include 4xTyphoon FGR4 of II(AC) Sqn, E3-D Sentry AWACS of No 8 Sqn and No 1 Sqn RAF Regt

7. Managing International Crises
Warning [Monitoring]
Signalling
Supporting friends [moral & physical]
International rescue [or evacuation]
Stabilization
Implicit Deterrence
[Explicit Deterrence]
Non-lethal Coercion
Precise Punishment
Question: What circumstances might be considered to be an “International Crisis”? Answer: Russia’s incursion and annexation of Crimea
Question: How could air assets be used to manage international crises? Answer: take the Class ideas/sugestions and relate to this slide.
Monitoring indicators of intended aggression (such as build up of troops or increased intensity of exercising – such as Russia with China in August 2018 & Warning – perhaps by political statements in the international forum reinforced by sending air assets or ground based air systems into the country perceived to be under threat
Signalling – by increasing our readiness states – perhaps mobilising reserves, bringing air assets to a higher level of preparation by increasing training and exercising activities, or even deploying air assets to forward bases e.g. Cyprus, Estonia in recent times – moving assets to Decimommanu in Sardinia during the late 1990s for the Bosnian conflict, and in October 2018 deploying No 34 Sqn RAF Regt to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus ensuring base security for missions against Da’esh.
Supporting Friends – we’ve already discussed Typhoons to Estonia
International Rescue – helping to evacuate expatriate Britons from conflict areas (i.e. Gulf War 1) or taking refugees from war zones for medical treatment (frequent event in Iraq and Afghanistan)
Injection of Stability – rapid insertion of aid, training teams – such as the UK Aid delivered by A400M in response to the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, September/October 2018
Deterrence – ATC talks of implied deterrence – which is represented by the deployment of air and space recce or surveillance assets – again this was an indicator when the UK sent air assets t the Baltic states, and we sent Tornados to Saudi Arabia in August 1990 immediately after Iraq invaded Kuwait. A more explicit deterrence was the use of force during Op ELLAMY as we discussed earlier and also our actions attacking Syrian military forces in response to use of chemical weapons
Non-lethal Coercion – a classic case was in 1971 when Harriers overflew Guatemala City when the Guatemalan military massed on the border of British Honduras (now the country Belize) - no ordnance as dropped or weapons fired – the over flight was sufficient to get the potential invasion called off
Punishment – Bombing Libya, Iraq and Syria for use of force against their own populations – especially the chemical weapons outlined earlier

8. Wartime Applications (Armed Conflict)
Surveillance
Destruction
Control by force [Lethal Coercion]
Denial [Containment]
[Dislocation]
Diversion
Delay
Demoralization
Armed conflict may see air power concentrated n time and space during frequent, widespread and intense combat operations that may include the types of application listed on this slide:
Surveillance – is listed as a RAFAC wartime application of air power but no longer features specifically in RAF or joint doctrine – why do you think that is? [ELICIT RESPONSES: primarily because surveillance continues all the time]; nevertheless – while the syllabus remains unchanged surveillance would be listed in any exam answer.
Destruction – of enemy assets and infrastructure using air assets by concentrating enormously destructive firepower targeted with precision – the consequences of which provide a war-winning potential
Lethal Coercion – this is using air assets deep into enemy territory to observe and engage the spectrum of targets, showing that ‘nothing is safe’ and that the enemy faces a strong, ubiquitous air capability, which can be used to escalate the scale and scope of a conflict rapidly, at will, to extend the intensity and scope of destructive power. Example [ELICIT if possible] – the Black Buck raids by Vulcan bombers over the Falkland Islands in 1982 – only Black Buck One put a crater into the Port Stanley airfield, but the long range capability demonstrated that the RAF could bomb mainland Argentinian targets if it chose to.
Denial – limits the enemy’s ability to employ his military capability by destroying or hampering logistical assets or confining him to a geographical area
Dislocation – aggressive air activity can move an enemy off his intended course of action or geographical position by undermining physical, moral or mental ability to fight. Dislocation of resupply convoys, for example, causes delay and confusion, while attacking an advancing armoured unit causes it to disperse and makes it more vulnerable to further attacks
Diversion – causing the enemy to divert his resources spreads his assets and makes it easier to delay or destroy them – Example [ELICIT?] using are campaign to suggest different areas of ground offensive (i.e. D-Day, Gulf War 19990). At the strategic level, diversions are created by attacking sensitive targets such as command and control systems (which serve to ‘blind’ the enemy to an extent) or attacking defences in certain areas can be perceived as a precursor to ground assault and result in the enemy moving assets to bolster the attacked locations; at the tactical level, air power can achieve diversion by attacking choke points such as bridges, logistic hubs railway yards and the like – all of which will delay the movements of military assets, or channel movements into alternative locations which allow them to be more easily destroyed.
Delay – self evident from dislocation, destruction and diversion – al create delays
Demoralisation - air power can support efforts to demoralise fighting spirit – examples from Iraq and Afghanistan include supersonic over flight by bombers on attacking ground forces, which, fearing an aerial strike, called off their own attack. Can also be an adjunct to psychological warfare on an enemy population. The presence of our air assets and absence of any means to prevent them acting is very demoralising – and is a result of achieving control of the air – the first role of air power!

9. Organising Air Power Air warfare is organized into three main areas:
Combat air operations
Combat support air operations
Ground-Combat support operations
Combat air operations - are those that use air power, in combat situations, to achieve specific objectives.
Combat support air operations - are non combat, flying operations that support the effective fighting capability of air, land and sea forces.
Ground-Combat support operations - non-flying tasks and activities needed to support air operations.

10. Application of Air Power: Roles and Employment Options
Summary and Recap
Application of Air Power:
Roles and Employment Options
Learning Objectives:
To introduce the roles and applications of air power
2. To introduce the levels of force application
3. To explain the range and types of conflict
4. To list functional organisation of military air operations

11. Questions? Questions to class:
What are the four roles of air power? Control of the Air; ISR; Attack; Mobility
What are the three levels of force application? Preserving Peace and Strengthening International Security; Managing International Crises; Armed Conflict
Provide four uses of air power in managing international crises: Warning [Monitoring]; Signalling; Supporting friends [moral & physical]; International rescue [or evacuation]; Stabilization; Implicit Deterrence; [Explicit Deterrence]; Non-lethal Coercion; Precise Punishment
List four warfighting applications of air power: Surveillance (aka observation); Destruction; Control by force [Lethal Coercion]; Denial [Containment]; [Dislocation]; Diversion ; Delay; Demoralisation
Air power capability is divided into three organisational groupings; name them: Combat Air operations; combat support air operations; ground combat support operations