Sept. 15, 2021

Application of Allied Air Power Versus Soviet Offensive and Defensive Operations

In 1978, the US military found itself in a similar position to that of today: the force was recently practiced in war by attrition, characterized largely by low-intensity conflict and operations in the human domain after coming out of Vietnam in 1975. As our military reacquainted itself with what it knew about high-intensity conflict with a near-peer, it faced the question of how to anticipate what new asymmetries the Soviets would bring to new domains. At the time, the domains serving as new platforms for competition included the infosphere, space, and technology. In this issue of “Blast from the Past”, you will see that the 1978 Air Land Bulletins give us a glimpse into how the force was thinking about and depicting the Soviet threat.