ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an excellent vantage point from which to reflect on military air power's evolution over little more than a hundred years. In addition to analysing air power's evolution and contemporary utility, it prompts us to peer into an uncertain future. Throughout the post-Cold War period in particular, the Royal Air Force has demonstrably repudiated this accusation, deploying swiftly and operating for long periods at the end of extended logistics chains. Contemporary scholars are sometimes criticised for assessing the utility and effectiveness of air power through this narrow Western prism, focused on Western coalitions and, in particular, on those led by the US. The challenges facing air power professionals around the world – technological, financial, legal, and many more besides – demand that those who occupy leadership positions at all levels provide the vision, direction, and investment necessary to ensure that air and space power continues to offer the options decision-makers need.
