ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines both the traditional and non-traditional threats that confront these powers and assesses the roles played by their land-based and naval, fixed wing and rotary wing, manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as the offensively and defensively capable ballistic and cruise missiles as they attempt to address these challenges. It assesses future issues, challenges, and responses involving air power as it, acting in concert with other military instruments, seeks to contribute to securing and promoting the interests of the state. The book suggests that the very significant and, in some cases, immediate challenges to sub-regional, regional, and trans-regional stability in the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean basin posed by China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, there are also a variety of other significant traditional and non-traditional challenges that are ubiquitous throughout the entire Indo-Pacific.
