The Art of War: Air Supremacy

Discover the key tactics, historical milestones, and tech innovations defining air supremacy's crucial role in past, present, and future conflicts!

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[thegunslinger]

You should do this sort of video on logistics.

[dusenkarotte]

Please do this with logistics. I think we all would love to see that

[nathanlandry]

Love this Art of War series. Logistics, economics, attrition warfare, psychological warfare, strategic bombing, blockades, research and development, and intelligence could all be interesting topics covered in the future

[kyleolson]

This is a perfect example of why i love warographics. Someone can explain air superiority in 5 to 10 mins. You guys not only explain it, but give so many examples and explanations that a layman actually understands the concepts. Thank you Simon and crew

[WasabiSniffer]

A pretty good summary of air power. Crazy to think aerial warfare has evolved so much in just a century

[ignitionfrn]

1:05 - Chapter 1 - The method
6:40 - Chapter 2 - The history
20:50 - Chapter 3 - The modern day
22:50 - Chapter 4 - Future & analysis

[troystaunton]

One of the often overlooked aspects of the Battle of Britain and of course the eventual German defeat on the Easter front is. For Germany every plane shot down was a lost plane and a lost pilot. For britain, it was a lost plane and perhaps a lost pilot. Meaning if the pilot parachuted down he was picked up taken to base given a new plane and could go again tomorrow. The German if he parachuted he either was captured or drowned in the channel. So by mere virtue of where the fight took place. Even if the planes shot down were 1-1 the pilots lost were 4-1 and suddenly in 2 months the British commonwealth airforces were superior in talents and experience to their German counterparts.

[velouris]

I’m getting to love these videos on the Art of War….
One small niggle about the Battle of Britain: It wasn’t just British pilots fighting on the British side…
There were pilots from commonwealth countries, French, American volunteers (The US was still neutral at the time)
and most famously, the Polish and Czech pilots, some of whom had amongst the highest success rate in the Battle of Britain…and gained almost legendary status…

[kingace]

Finally! Another Art of War video. I was hoping this series wouldn't be dead.

[ldxxelq]

Hoa City in 1968 and Bagdad in 2003 proved that tanks, cannon, and aircraft will always give way at the end to the infantry man with his personal weapon etc. going house to house and room to room. The USMC general summed it up in 2003. "It is down to a knife fight in a phone booth. It is our time."

[seffbones]

That device he was talking about was actually a trigger mechanism… the propeller would actually pull the gun trigger and the pilot pulled the trigger to activate that mechanism but since the prop was so fast the pilot can’t notice a delay, therefore a center fired prop planes fire rate is dependent on the rpm of the prop.

[XxAcesxX]

Much like Alfred Mahan's theory of naval supremecy, its not about winning controk of the sea/air thats an end to itself, Its about what having control enables you to do.

[swj]

Part of Japan's problem with pilots was that they didn't rotate their best pilots back to train the next wave, while the US frequently pulled back their best to take on the role of trainer.

See, one pilot who is just gifted might shoot down 20, 25 enemy planes, of you pull him back to teach even some of his tricks to rookies could teach en entire class to each shoot down 5 or 10, which becomes overwhelming.

So while the best Japanese pilots might add 5 or 10 more planes shot down before dying, the US ace would help train up a force that could shoot down many times as many.

[keso_de_bola]

"He who controls the skies controls the war."

I dunno where I encountered this, but that basically sums it up. Glad Simon and co. covered this topic.

[dragonstormdipro]

Very few countries have managed to gain Air Supremacy historically. Examples are Coalition on Gulf War, Israel on 6 day War, India on Kargil War.

[ag]

Its interesting that the planes being introduced now like F35, F22, and J20 are all Air Supremacy fighters. The idea that these jets could control and entire section of the sky denying it to the enemy is pretty incredible. Even much loved jets like F14, F15, F18, and F16 couldnt dream of making possible.

[lucasjleandro]

A SuperPower that can't enforce Air Superiority isn't a SuperPower,

[joelharrison]

Great video, love when you focus on the broader concepts of war, provides a really good insight

[Nathan-vtjz]

Please do a video on logistics! That would be extremely interesting.

[metamaxis]

I will forever hold an imessurable respect for the men and women who can fly in combat.
I hate flying when being just a passenger on a commercial airliner, I can't even imagine the flying in combat...

Really puts that respect in even more perspective.