Air superiority

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Air superiority is the dominance in the air power of one side's air forces over the other side's during a military campaign. It is defined in the NATO Glossary as "That degree of dominance in the air battle of one force over another that permits the conduct of operations by the former and its related land, sea, and air forces at a given time and place without prohibitive interference by the opposing force." One should note that in military speak, air superiority is different from air supremacy.

Air superiority allows greatly increased bombing efforts as well as tactical air support for ground forces. In addition, paratroop assaults and airdrops can move ground forces and supplies.

With mid-air refueling it is possible to keep a number of attack aircraft airborne and on call for ground support. The aircraft can then assist ground forces often within a matter of minutes of being requested.

In the early 1900s, Italian air-theorist Giulio Douhet wrote in The Command of the Air that future wars would be decided in the skies. At the beginning of World War II his ideas were dismissed by some, but as the war continued, it became apparent that his theories on the importance of aircraft were supported once the Allies attained air superiority.

Air power has since become an increasingly powerful element of military campaigns; military planners view having at least an environment of air superiority as a necessity. For example, Britain's successful air defence in the Battle of Britain during World War II denied the German military air superiority in the English Channel, making a seaborne invasion (planned as Operation Sealion) even less likely to succeed. Achieving total air superiority later allowed the Allies to carry out strategic bombing raids on Germany's industrial and civilian centers, most notably the Ruhr and Dresden.

The element of air superiority has also been the driving force behind the development of aircraft carriers, which allow aircraft to operate in the absences of designated airbases. For example, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was carried out by aircraft operating from Japanese aircraft carriers miles away from the nearest Japanese air base. Air superiority, however, requires a significant investment in military resources to achieve, and overinvestment might lead to a shortfall of other crucial aspects of military deployment. A balance therefore should be achieved.

In the 1950s, the United States Navy tasked the F-8 Crusader as their close in air superiority fighter, though this role would be taken over by the F-4 Phantom, designed as an interceptor. The USAF had developed the F-100 and F-104 as air superiority fighters, but these did not have the range or performance to counter the MiG threat encountered over Vietnam. In the Falklands conflict, the Harrier was employed as an air superiority fighter against Mach 2 Mirage jets.

In the 1960s, the term Air superiority fighter was used to refer to the development of the teens series F-14, F-15, F-16 and F/A-18, all of which made close-combat maneuverablility a top priority. ^[1]. The heavy F-14 and F-15 were assigned the primary air superiority mission because of their longer range radars and capability to carry more and longer range missiles than the lightweight fighters.