On December 17, 1903 Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first heavier than air flight at Kitty Hawk. At that time very few could imagine what this machine, capable of operating in third dimension, would be capable of doing. This flight added a new dimension to the twentieth century warfare that required a change in operational philosophy. In this context, airpower (AP) theorists worked to evolve effective employment concepts for AP. Giulio Douhet also known as the “father of air power”, has been one of the earlier writers on airpower and its uses in warfare. Douhet proposed suggestions to integrate airpower in warfare and these changes have transformed the way how wars are fought these days. This essay aims to analyze the changes in warfare …show more content…
During WW-I air power was also employed on the same concept. However, Capability of undertaking strategic bombing operations by the airpower brought a significant change in warfare. Aircraft, unlike the ground forces, does not require ground lines of communication for its operation and can reach any part of the globe depending on its range. Hence, it provides a capability to destroy deeper targets that were previously not possible without breaking through the enemy forces. This concept was practiced during WW-II in London, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing. Gulf war is a recent example of strategic attacks that forced the Iraqi forces to surrender without putting up much resistance. However, it made the wars bloodier as is evident from casualties of WW-II as compared to …show more content…
As the aircraft operates in the third dimension it required a change in concept of warfare to exploit the potentials it offered. Airpower by virtue of its versatility is equally capable of performing independent operations while supporting other services. So it should be treated as the third fighting arm along with army and navy. Because of a different operational philosophy of the airpower, today air force has been established as an independent arm of the armed forces around the globe. Since WW-II airpower has proved that it is capable of carrying out multiple tasks and played a pivotal role in various conflicts like Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Libya. This has brought an important change in the modern warfare, and now inter-services coordination has become an absolute necessity in formulating a joint war strategy. However this does not reduce the effectiveness of other armed