![]() It has worked well against less-capable adversaries. The air-tasking cycle was created to produce effective and efficient air operations, while minimizing the risk to U.S. forces will likely render advance planning irrelevant or inexecutable. In a fast-paced, high-intensity conflict, unexpected adversary actions, battlefield developments, and damage inflicted on U.S. ![]() But, after those initial strikes, it is not clear that a 72-hour deliberate targeting process will be fast enough to keep up with the adversary or be capable of supporting all-domain operations in the way that U.S. ![]() forces will likely have an existing prioritized target list they can take off the shelf. Unlike in Operation Inherent Resolve, U.S. forces are unlikely to have the luxury of days or weeks to plan air and missile strikes if they want to stop a fait accompli and defeat invading Chinese or Russian forces. ISIL also hid forces and assets among civilians to further complicate targeting. forces’ deliberate targeting cycle by relocating mobile targets like oil trucks or regularly transferring weapons, cash, and fighters from one location to another before deliberate targets could be approved. forces tried to preplan strikes against headquarters cash and weapons stores and oil production, processing, and distribution operations. Because ISIL had few fixed targets, such as buildings or airfields, U.S. ![]() The deliberate targeting process struggled due to the absence of an initial list of ISIL targets, insufficient numbers of intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to simultaneously support ground operations and deliberate target development, and a stovepiped and undermanned intelligence process. In Operation Inherent Resolve, however, the deliberate targeting process routinely took “ from days to weeks.” This proved to be too slow to keep up with a highly adaptive adversary and rapidly changing battlefield. air operations are centered around an air operations center that preplans deliberate airstrikes as a part of a 72-hour air-tasking cycle. military prepares for war against a great power, military leaders have re-emphasized developing offensive platforms and weapons systems to improve firepower. Preplanned Airstrikes Struggle to Keep Up With the Speed of Modern WarfareĪs the U.S. forces should address the vulnerabilities identified during this conflict related to deliberate targeting, operating in contested airspace, and integrating air- and ground-based fires to prepare for future great-power conflict. American military operations in the Middle East highlighted clear deficiencies in some missions that would be essential to winning a future great-power conventional war. Issues that emerged in this environment are likely to be far more acute against a more capable adversary. The war to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), known as Operation Inherent Resolve, presented one of the most permissive operating environments U.S. operations in the Middle East for great-power conflict as well. But it can and should also learn lessons from U.S. The Defense Department undoubtedly should learn from its experience competing with Russia and Iran in Syria below the threshold of conventional war. Air Force needs to prepare for proxy war scenarios akin to Syria. Aaron Stein and Ryan Fishel argue that the U.S. But it is important that the Pentagon does not relegate the lessons learned from its recent operational experience in the Middle East to the trash bin. Department of Defense is attempting to make the long overdue pivot from focusing on the Middle East to shoring up deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and Europe by improving its ability to prevail in large-scale combat against a great power. military operations in Iraq and Syria that are relevant for a potential future war against a great-power adversary like China or Russia? ![]() What lessons can be gleaned from recent U.S. The first article explores the evolution of airpower since Operation Desert Storm. Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a two-part series on airpower and Operation Inherent Resolve. ![]()
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