Full Description
Airpower is credited with success in Afghanistan, Desert Storm, and Serbia, but in Vietnam all of America's aerial might could not defeat a vastly outnumbered Third World force on bicycles. With a panoramic sweep and shocking frankness unrivaled in the current literature, Ken Werrell, one of today's most experienced airpower historians, reveals the true extent of the technological evolution that fueled this transformation. Chasing the Silver Bullet traces in unprecedented detail the evolution of the Air Force's entire inventory since the Korean War, from the ill-fated F-105 fighter-bomber to the F-117 stealth fighter, but one of its chief contributions is its analysis of the strategies and doctrine that fashioned the hardware. Werrell's exhaustive research and sage analysis challenge the Air Force's mantra that precision-guided munitions delivered from long-range, stealthy aircraft are America's true war heroes. Desert Storm gave us the wrong impression about airpower technology and Werrell corrects that mistake with this landmark study, rendering superficial all other books about Desert Storm and current capabilities. Objective, even-handed, and unimpressed with the bells and whistles of new technology, Werrell understands how airpower works.
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 1. USAF Aircraft in Vietnam: Manned and Unmanned Chapter 3 2. USAF Munitions and Sensors in Vietname Chapter 4 3. The F-15: A Premier Air Superiority Fighter Chapter 5 4. The F-16: Lightweight to Multipurpose Fighter Chapter 6 5. The A-10: Supporting the Troops Chapter 7 6. Stealth: The "Invisible" Aircraft Chapter 8 7. Precision-Guided Munitions: Unprecedented Accuracy Chapter 9 8. A New Era for Strategic Airlift: Jet Aircraft Chapter 10 9. Command Controls: AWACS and JSTARS Chapter 11 10. Space: Employing the High Ground Chapter 12 11. USAF Technology in Action: Planning and Combat in the Gulf War Chapter 13 12. The Ground War: Victory in the Desert Chapter 14 13. What Air Force Has Done Better?
