Airpower is credited with success in Afghanistan, Desert Storm, and Serbia, but in Vietnam all of America's aerial might could not defeat a vastly outnumbered Third World force on bicycles. With a panoramic sweep and shocking frankness unrivaled in the current literature, Ken Werrell, one of today's most experienced airpower historians, reveals the true extent of the technological evolution that fueled this transformation. Chasing the Silver Bullet traces in unprecedented detail the evolution of the Air Force's entire inventory since the Korean War, from the ill-fated F-105 fighter-bomber to the F-117 stealth fighter, but one of its chief contributions is its analysis of the strategies and doctrine that fashioned the hardware.
Werrell's exhaustive research and sage analysis challenge the Air Force's mantra that precision-guided munitions delivered from long-range, stealthy aircraft are America's true war heroes. Desert Storm gave us the wrong impression about airpower technology and Werrell corrects that mistake with this landmark study, rendering superficial all other books about Desert Storm and current capabilities.
Objective, even-handed, and unimpressed with the bells and whistles of new technology, Werrell understands how airpower works.

GPS Declassified examines the development of GPS from its secret, Cold War military roots to its emergence as a worldwide consumer industry. Drawing on previously unexplored documents, the authors examine how military rivalries influenced the creation of GPS and shaped public perceptions about its origin. Since the United States’ first program to launch a satellite in the late 1950s, the nation has pursued dual paths into space—one military and secret, the other scientific and public. Among the many commercial spinoffs this approach has produced, GPS arguably boasts the greatest impact on our daily lives. Told by a son of a navy insider—whose work helped lay the foundations for the system—and a science and technology journalist, the story chronicles the research and technological advances required for the development of GPS. The authors peek behind the scenes at pivotal events in GPS history. They note how the technology moved from the laboratory to the battlefield to the dashboard and the smartphone, and they raise the specter of how this technology and its surrounding industry affect public policy. Insights into how the system works and how it fits into a long history of advances in navigation tie into discussions of the myriad applications for GPS.

On December 16, 1958, a Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile became the first rocket launch from Vandenberg AFB, California. Established from the remnants of a WWII and Korean War training base named Camp Cooke, the USAF selected the location to operationally test intercontinental-range ballistic missiles over the Pacific Ocean. Over the decades, Vandenberg has seen over 1,900 launches of more than 70 varieties of rockets and missiles. This book chronicles the launches by rocket/missile, launchpad location, and payload. Many never-before-seen photographs illustrate the variety of space launch vehicles used to lift national-security satellites into orbit, as well as the operational testing of the missiles used by United States nuclear-alert forces. The launches at Vandenberg helped drive the technological innovation and deterrence that helped the US win the Cold War.

In March 2012, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics requested that the Defense Science Board develop recommendations for technology investments that would enable the Department of Defense to maintain capability superiority in 2030. The Board assembled a study composed of national leaders in science and technology who explored required capabilities, global technology, and the principles of experimentation. This book recommends some specific investments for the Department that are focused on high-leverage technologies that the study judged are not adequately pursued today. The book also discusses priorities for the 21st century defence in sustaining United States global leadership.

This volume covers all of the major radar and infrared guided air to air missiles in current and projected near-term service. Emphasis is placed upon modern missile systems, which entered service in the 1990's and early 2000's, although all major missile systems currently in service are covered including older types, which have been serving since the 1970's. The combat use of the various missiles systems over the past three decades is also covered.

In his 2013 State of the Union Address, President Obama stated that the United States would "engage Russia to seek further reduction in our nuclear arsenals". These reductions could include limits on strategic, non-strategic and non-deployed nuclear weapons. Yet, arms control negotiation between the United States and Russia have stalled, leading many observers to suggest that the United States reduce its nuclear forces unilaterally, or in parallel with Russia, without negotiating a new treaty. Many in Congress have expressed concerns about this possibility, both because they question the need to reduce nuclear forces below New START levels and because they do not want the President to agree to further reductions without seeking the approval of Congress. This book reviews the role of nuclear arms control in the U.S.-Soviet relationship, looking at both formal, bilateral treaties and unilateral steps the United States took to alter its nuclear posture. An analytic framework is discussed reviewing the characteristics of the different mechanisms, focusing on issues such as balance and equality, predictability, flexibility, transparency and confidences in compliance, and timeliness.

The Port Arthur massacre on 28 April 1996, when 35 people were shot dead by Martin Bryant, transformed Australia's gun control debate. Public outrage drove politicians from all sides of politics to embrace gun control. Non-violent 'people power' galvanised government resolve to outlaw semi-automatic weapons, register all guns and tighten gun ownership laws. Simon Chapman's book gives an insider's view of the struggle for gun control, highlighting the public discourse between shooters determined to preserve the right for civilians to bear military-style weapons, and activists dedicated to getting Australia 'off the American path' of gun violence. Law reform is not inevitable. It requires the planned, strategic use of media and advocacy to convert anger into action. The story of the campaign for gun control is a practical guide to achieving humane social change for activists everywhere. With the recent mass shooting at a primary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, which has stimulated an unprecedented momentum for meaningful gun controls in the US, the lessons of Port Arthur should be revisited. Simon Chapman is professor of public health at the University of Sydney. He has won multiple awards for his national and international advocacy for tobacco control.

This book consists of fifteen cartoons inspired by an 1866 Harper's Weekly article about the hypothetical length of the Thirty Years' War at different periods in time and extending into the future when both sides had developed the ultimate weapons to end all wars. Of course, war is inspired by the devil.

Primitive Weapons Miscellany collects seven early papers on primitive weapons like boomerangs, harpoons, slings, and blowguns, taken primarily from anthropological journals. These papers show examples of the weapons, and describe their use in hunting prey. This volume includes facsimile reprints of The Cane Blowgun in Catawba and Southeastern Ethnology (Frank G. Speck), Boomerangs (Gilbert T. Walker), Australian Throwing Sticks, Throwing-Clubs, and Boomerangs (D. S. Davidson), Distribution and Use of Slings in Pre-Columbian America . . . (Philip Ainsworth Means), Sling Contrivances for Projectile Weapons (F. Krause), Throwing Sticks in the National Museum (Otis T. Mason), and Aboriginal American Harpoons (Otis T. Mason).

In this engaging book, Jeremy Black argues that technology neither acts as an independent variable nor operates without major limitations. This includes its capacity to obtain end results, as technology s impact is far from simple and its pathways are by no means clear. After considering such key conceptual points, Black discusses important technological advances in weaponry and power projection from sailing warships to aircraft carriers, muskets to tanks, balloons to unmanned drones in each case, taking into account what difference these advances made. He addresses not only firepower but also power projection and technologies of logistics, command, and control. Examining military technologies in their historical context and the present centered on the Revolution in Military Affairs and Military Transformation, Black then forecasts possible future trends."

Today's wars have no definitive end in sight, are conducted among civilian populations, and are fought not only by soldiers but also by unmanned aerial vehicles. According to M. Shane Riza, this persistent conflict among the people and the trend toward robotic warfare has outpaced deliberate thought and debate about the deep moral issues affecting the military mission and the warrior spirit. The pace of change, Riza explains, is revolutionizing warfare in ways seldom discussed but vitally important. A key development is risk inversion, which occurs when all noncombatants are at greater risk than combatants from technologically superior forces. For the first time, warriors are not the ones shouldering the dangers and horrors of battle. Riza argues that how we win actually matters as much as winning itself. Traditional warfare involves human fallibility; there are ethics in striving that give meaning to war on a personal level. According to Just War theory, this sense of purpose in war imposes a practical limit on what belligerents can and should do to their opponents. Contemporary robotic warfare, however, removes the moral equivalence of combatants and fails to create an end state of mutual respect upon which people can build a lasting peace. Killing without Heart postulates that if war's ultimate goal is to achieve a lasting peace, fighting today's technological wars of combatant impunity may ultimately render unmanned weapons useless when we realize that robotic weaponry undermines our strategic objectives. About the Author M. SHANE RIZA is a command pilot and a graduate of and former instructor at the United States Air Force Weapons School. A veteran of Operations Southern and Northern Watch, he commanded a fighter squadron during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He holds three master's degrees, the most recent in national resource strategy from the National Defense University. He is a resident of Dallas, Texas, and has a home in the North Georgia mountains.

Edited and compiled by Emmy Award winning historian Bob Carruthers this is the compendium edition featuring five complete reprints from the series entitled 'Hitler's War Machine.' Comprising a varied range of materials drawn from original writings covering the strategic, operational and tactical aspects of the Panzers in action, this single volume edition is designed to provide the well-read and knowledgeable reader with an interesting compilation of primary sources combined with the best of what is in the public domain to build a comprehensive picture of the tanks and the men who fought in them. Featured here are wartime intelligence reports which contain an intriguing series of contemporary articles on weapons and tactics. Many of the articles are written in, what was then, the present tense and they produce a unique a sense of what was happening at the face of battle as events unfolded.

China has evolved from a nation with local and regional security interests to a major economic and political power with global interests, investments, and political commitments. It now requires a military that can project itself around the globe, albeit on a limited scale, to secure its interests. Therefore, as Larry M. Wortzel explains, the Chinese Communist Party leadership has charged the People's Liberation Army (PLA) with new and challenging missions that require global capabilities. Advances in technology and the development of indigenous weapons platforms in China, combined with reactions to modern conflicts, have produced a military force very different from that which China has fielded in the past. Wortzel presents a clear and sobering picture of the PLA's modernization effort as it expands into space and cyberspace, and as it integrates operations in the traditional domains of war. This book will appeal to the specialist in security and foreign policy issues in Asia as well as to the person interested in arms control, future warfare, and global military strategies. The book puts China's military growth into historical context for readers of recent military and diplomatic history. About the Author Larry M. Wortzel, spent much of his thirty-two-year military career in the Asia-Pacific region, including two tours of duty as a military attachein China. He served as director of the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College and, after retirement, as Asian studies director and vice president at the Heritage Foundation. For a decade he was a commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is the author or editor of ten previously published books about China. He lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The Colt M1911 is one of the most well-known and popular military weapons of the 20th century. Designed by John Browning, this pistol, with its legendary reliability and firepower, represents the developmental starting point of a majority of automatic pistols to this day. It was the standard-issue sidearm of the US armed forces for more than 70 years and is still in use throughout the world. This detailed, illustrated book features the M1911 from its initial design, manufacturing, and testing, through its combat use in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Through more than 370 images, this title includes close-up views of markings, as well as a serial numbers list, and a visual breakdown of the weapon. Accessories such as magazines, ammunition, holsters, and cleaning kits are featured throughout the book, as are rarely seen combat-related uniform and equipment items.

Full color images throughout. Army Lineage Series. CMH Pub 60-11-1. Describes lineages, honors, heraldic items, and bibliographies of Army Field Artillery regiments in the force structure thru 2005.