Flexible Air Strategy and the 1973 October War

The key to winning the next war lies in the flexibility of air power. A critical analysis of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War using Professor William P. Snyder's model for war planning demonstrates how flexible air power clearly influenced the outcome of the war for Israel. In order to be successful on the battlefield in the future, US military leaders and strategists must be flexible in planning and building air power doctrine, strategy and tactics. The US Air Force cannot win a war on its own, but all must understand that it is the flexibility of the air arm that makes victory possible in the air-land battle concept.