Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data van Creveld, Martin L. Air power and maneuver warfare / by Martin van Creveld , contributing authors, Kenneth S. Brower and Steven L. Canby, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1 . Maneuver warfare. 2. Airpower. 3. Maneuver warfare-Case studies. I. Brower, Kenneth S. II. Canby, Steve L. Ill. Title. U250.V26 1994 355.4'2-dc20 94-16884 CIP ISBN 1-58566-050-7 First Printing July 1994 Second Printing August 1997 Third Printing July 2000 Fourth Printing September 2001 Disclaimer This publication was produced in the Department of Defense school environment in the interest of academic freedom and the advancement of national defense-related concepts. The views expresseded in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the United States government. This publication has been reviewed by security and policy review authorities and is cleared for public release. Ll. Contents Chapter Page DISCLAIMER . ii FOREWORD . v ABOUT THE AUTHOR . Vii CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS . ix PREFACE . xi INTRODUCTION . xiii Notes . xvi 1 THE NATURE OF THE BEAST . 1 Notes . 20 2 MANEUVER WARFARE IN ACTION-EARLY GERMAN CAMPAIGNS . 21 Notes . 56 3 MANEUVER WARFARE IN ACTION-THE GERMAN 1941 CAMPAIGN IN RUSSIA . 61 Notes . 98 PHOTO SECTION . 102 4 MANEUVER WARFARE IN ACTION-THE SOVIET VERSION . 109 Notes . 148 5 ISRAEL: MANEUVER WARFARE, AIR POWER, AND LOGISTICS . 153 Notes . 189 6 MANEUVER WARFARE AND AIR POWER IN THE 1990s . 193 Past Limitations on Air Power . 193 Air Power and New Developments . 196 Hardware . 197 Situational . 198 The Cordon Sanitaire of Reconstruction . 200 Differences in Styles of War for Air Power . 203 Notes . 211 111 Page APPENDIX . 213 THE INSTITUTE RESPONDS . 221 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 251 INDEX . 259 Illustrations Figure 1 The Campaign in Poland . 35 2 The Campaign in the West . 42 3 The Leningrad Campaign . 73 4 German Operations, 1941 . 77 5 The Campaign in the Ukraine . 79 6 The Campaign of Army Group Center, June-August 1941 . 86 7 Moscow: The Battles of Vyazma-Bryansk . 92 8 Battles of Encirclement of the Eastern Campaign, 1941 . 95 9 The 1967 Campaign in the Sinai . 164 10 The 1973 Campaign in the Sinai . 178 11 The Gulf Campaign, 1991 . 216 Table 1 Expenditure of Tank Armies per 100 Kilometers of Advance . 15 2 Divisional Estimated Requirement Rates Daily (Tons) . 16 3 Rates of Advance of Tank Armies in the Third Period of the Great Patriotic War (GPW) . 110 4 The Soviet Principles of Warfare at the Operational and Tactical Levels . 118 5 Average Densities of Manpower and Weapons in Breakthrough Sectors during the Great Patriotic War . 124 6 Average Aviation Densities on Axes of Attack in the Fronts . 141 iv Foreword An essential part of the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB), Alabama, curriculum consists of the study of military history and specific campaigns . Distinguished military scholars often visit the college to discuss and explore issues with the faculty. Martin van Creveld was one of those distinguished scholars. He had previously been commissioned by the Air Staff to investigate the effects of the US Army's move toward a more maneuver-oriented kind of warfare and the effect that move will have on the US Air Force role on the battlefield. The Air Staff was concerned about a host of issues: logistic support for a highly mobile force; friendly force confusion on huge, rapidly changing battlefields; close air support with or without air base support; and a host of other issues . The bottom line for the Air Force concerned several issues of great impact. First, Must air combat change because land combat is changing? and, Is the decisiveness of air power increasing geometrically to the point where the twenty-first century will find it is as decisive as ground power was in the twentieth century? Our guest historian agrees that sophisticated, highly technical air and space developments may have made air power dominant on the conventional battlefield. The great exception, however, lies in the trend away from conventional to unconventional conflict . To Professor van Creveld, nation-states have lost the monopoly on the legitimate use of violence. To prepare for a conventional scenario is to prepare for the last war, not the next one. The possibility of more "Lebanons" is much higher than the likelihood of future "Irags." The Airpower Research Institute (ARI) of the College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research, and Education (CADRE), Maxwell AFB, Alabama, also became interested and V wished to comment on the entire study. Regardless of the fact that the kinds of warfare may be changing, the experience of the Israelis, the Luftwaffe, and the Soviet air force in supporting fast-moving forces is instructive to an air force that promises to support a steadily faster-moving army. And so the discussion went, with both sides learning much. We invite your interest and dialogue, and invite you to visit Maxwell AFB, Alabama. As the Air Corps Tactical School in the 1930s became central to developing air power theory and doctrine, so will that same role be adopted by the Air War College and the Airpower Research Institute in the 1990s. The Gulf War was a watershed for air power; there will never be another just like it, nor will there be an opportunity to fight it again. Martin van Creveld was born in the Netherlands but raised and educated in Israel. After taking his master's degree at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, he read for a doctorate in history at the London School of Economics. Since 1971, he has been on the faculty of the history department at the Hebrew University, where he is now a full professor. At present, he is the first occupant of the Oppenheimer Chair for Warfighting Strategy at the Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. His most important publications are Hitler's Strategy 1940-1941: the Balkan Clue (1973) ; Military Lessons of the Yom Kippur War: Historical Perspectives (1975) ; Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton (1979); Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939-1945 (1982); Command in War (1985) ; Technology and War: From 2000 B.C. to the Present (1989); The Training of Officers : From Military Professionalism to Irrelevance (1990) ; The Transformation of War (1991) ; and Nuclear Proliferation and the Future of Conflict (forthcoming). Vii THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Contributing Authors The author wishes to extend his heartfelt thanks to the following contributing authors who willingly provided their time and expertise to this project. Kenneth S. Brower is a defense analyst and naval engineer . An internationally recognized author and lecturer on defense affairs specializing on the interaction of doctrine, tactics, and technology, he was widely seen and heard on US television and radio networks during Operation Desert Storm. Among numerous ship designs, Mr Brower was responsible for the Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruiser, as well as a number of other ship designs. He has specialized in conducting comparative studies of US and international ships and weapon systems . He is currently president of Spectrum Associates of Springfield, Virginia, a defense-consulting firm. Dr Steven L. Canby, an economist and defense analyst, is a well-known author and lecturer specializing in military doctrine, manpower, regional security, application of technology, task specialization, and European defense integration. He was among the handful of analysts responsible for inducing the change in the American style of war from firepower and attrition to maneuver . He is a graduate of West Point; the Infantry School's airborne, ranger, and commander courses ; Command and General Staff College; and Harvard University. He is currently president of C & L Associates of Pontiac, Maryland, a defense- ix consulting firm, and an adjunct professor in military history and the operational art of war for Georgetown University's graduate program in national security studies. Any errors or omissions remain my own, but the quality of this effort has been solidly improved by the contributing authors . x Preface In the form it has finally assumed, this volume falls into two very different parts . Part 1 was written by Dr Steve Canby, Ken Brower, and myself at the invitation of Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. It represents our joint attempt to clarify the relationship between air power and maneuver warfare since 1939, a subject that derives its importance from the fact that maneuver warfare has been the US Army's official doctrine since the early eighties and remains so to the present day. By contrast, part 2 was added ex post facto. It contains the collective wisdom of the military doctrine analysts of the Air University on the same subjects, as well as the way in which we have presented them. The reader is invited to wade through the entire volume and draw his/her own conclusion about the past, present, and future of air power on the one hand and maneuver warfare on the other, assuming indeed that they do have a future . In bringing this volume to print, I should like to thank several people who in various ways were instrumental for its genesis, production, and completion. The first is Dr Steve Canby who, in addition to writing some of the chapters, assumed much of the administrative burden connected with the contracting side . Another is Lt Col Andrew Ogan who acted as liaison between the authors on the one hand and the Pentagon and the Air University on the other. Finally, it is necessary to commend Mr Ted Kluz of the Air War College for persistence and determination. Not only was the original idea of doing this study his, but he has guided and supported it throughout the publication process .