Storm over Iraq: Air Power and the Gulf War (SMITHSONIAN HISTORY OF AVIATION AND SPACEFLIGHT SERIES)

Storm Over Iraq is an incisive account of the Persian Gulf War, which marked a revolution in military history: the ascendancy of air power in warfare. This book - the first detailed analysis of why the Gulf War could be fought the way it was - examines the planning and preparation for war, showing how the success of Desert Storm was the product of two decades of profound changes in the American approach to defense, military doctrine, and combat operations. Richard P. Hallion argues that the development of radical military technologies, particularly those of stealth and precision-guided weapons, enabled military leaders to structure a campaign that shattered Iraq's military machine, completely fulfilling the promise that air power had held for more than seventy-five years.
Hallion traces the history of air power, describing the rebuilding of the American military after Vietnam, the emergence of new doctrines and strategies for air and land warfare, and the various small wars of the 1970s and 1980s. In analyzing the onset of the Gulf crisis and the military operations in response to Saddam Hussein's aggression, he covers planning, strategy, and the conduct of the coalition air campaign and its impact on the Iraqi war machine. Finally, Hallion outlines the significance the war holds for national security planning, including the selection of appropriate forms of military force, the acquisition of new weapons, the pursuit of new technologies, and the effect of air power in confronting global crises.
Detailed appendixes examine specific issues, including smart weapons, advanced electronic command and control, and the evolution of high-performance aircraft and missiles. The book is meticulously documented and profusely illustrated with many photos not previously seen as well as detailed maps, tables, charts, and graphs.