Long-Range Missiles

This thesis examines the employment of long-range missiles, such as the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile and the Army Tactical Missile System, in U.S. military operations from Operation DESERT STORM to the present. The thesis reviews long-range missile (LRM) employment at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war, from the perspective of the question whether LRMs enable the user to compel an enemy to give up his purpose, while minimizing harm to own forces. LRMs are evaluated as a form of indirect fire supporting maneuver, and as a method for intimidation on the Douhetan airpower model. The principal conclusion is that, although LRMs have shown utility as a form of indirect fire to support maneuver, their primary employment has been neither to support maneuver nor to intimidate by themselves. Instead, they have been used in attritional air campaigns which, with one exception, did not seek to capitalize on the attrition inflicted with follow-on exploitation. The thesis reveals that LRM use has mainly been a form of attrition without exploitation, and reinforces current theories that exploitation should be defined and emphasized as a principle of war.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.