ABSTRACT
The defense and future security of Taiwan are closely and inextricably linked to its air power capability. Air power has proved over the past eighty years to be the sine qua non of military success on the battlefields of the world and, ultimately, the determinant of victory in war. Such has been the impact of air power – the third dimension of war – on the conduct of military conflict that it has persuaded some to believe that it alone can be the decider of success. The general consensus, however, is that while air power is the dominant factor in modern war, it alone cannot ensure victory. Ultimately, as Martin Edmonds points out in Chapter 2 of this volume, victory is only secured when armies capture and hold ground permanently.
