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How Does Aviation Affect Warfare?

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Samuel Razumovskiy
Sandra Woodward
English 102
May 26, 2015
How does Aviation Affect Warfare? Aviation has had many impacts on the world, especially warfare. Changing the way we fight forever aviation is constantly changing the battlefield since WWI. In every war after WWI aviation was a prominent factor in the way battles played out, and in the end the war. It is even a large factor in naval warfare since its introduction. WWI was the war which created the significant role for aviation in modern warfare. Starting out with reconnaissance flights and ending with bombing runs with escort fighters, WWI showed the speed at which aviation can change. During WWI enemy reconnaissance pilots usually just waved at each other as they flew by since …show more content…

The jets are able to provide quick air support to troops on the ground while UAVs stay up for longer periods of time providing aerial reconnaissance and airstrikes if need be (Deeb). Currently the Marines have their own air force for providing air cover for themselves during assaults. Airpower for the US Marines is extremely important especially during a beach assault since the navy has retired its battleship fleet (Deeb). Gregory Deeb explains very well what happens …show more content…

The first general to advocate for an Air Force was General Billy Mitchell. He wanted to be the commander of the US Air Force since he believed aircraft were going to start to play a larger role in warfare. To show why he believed so, Mitchell had a demonstration shown to a group of congressmen (WhipLash007). The demonstration was of a captured German battleship, deemed unsinkable, being destroyed by a couple planes with 2000 lbs bombs (WhipLash007). This caught the eye of Navy admirals who decided to invest in a ship that can carry a large supply of planes on its deck. Thus the first carriers were born. With the creation of the aircraft carrier, the Navy had to find a way for the planes to land safely; some progress was made but it was still extremely dangerous until angled landing strips were created (Chipman). When WWII came along it was time for Naval aviation to prove itself as a weapon of the seas. Naval aviation came with a bang when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and destroyed many US ships. But the US was lucky, although the entire battleship fleet was destroyed, there were no carriers in port at the time. After the bombing, the Japanese decided to attack the US held island of Midway Atoll. The Japanese attacked with nearly 200 ships while the US had only fifty with three of them aircraft carriers (WhipLash007). In the morning of June 4, the Japanese

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