Naval Postgraduate School
Future airpower: trends and implications for Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM)
Article (942.2Kb)Abstract
A mature Special Operations Forces (SOF) capability requires dedicated Air and Aviation resources, yet the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has not responded to the deepening operational relevance of Canadian SOF. In its capstone document, Air Force Vectors, the RCAF clusters SOF with Space and Cyber activities, both significantly more niche and less mature than Canadian Special Operations
Forces Command (CANSOFCOM). Similarly, recent Airpower articles from the Canadian Military Journal and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute mention CANSOFCOM in passing only. With more than ten years of domestic and expeditionary SOF operations in support of Canada’s national interest, CANSOFCOM has emerged as a highly reliable organization. More importantly, future indications show no end to the requirement for SOF. The Chief of Force Development characterizes the Future Security Environment as one where “…state and non-state actors alike will seek to combine conventional,
irregular and high-end asymmetric methods concurrently, often simultaneously in the land, sea, air, and space environments and the cyber domain to gain advantage in future conflict. With irregular and asymmetric threats, the irregular and asymmetric solutions provided by SOF are essential. As U.S.
Admiral Eric Olsen stated, “…most conflicts involving NATO in the future will require broadly capable and skilled SOF.” Uniquely poised to respond to irregular and asymmetric threats, CANSOFCOM requires an increase in joint interoperability and capability development with the RCAF. This article analyzes broad trends in Air and Aviation as they relate to SOF Airpower. It clarifies the need for SOF Airpower, explores six technological trends: unmanned systems, autonomy, next-generation rotary wing, future precision strike, alternate-service delivery, and fuel requirements, and ultimately, presents implications for CANSOFCOM in order to advocate for future SOF Airpower
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Book Review by James L. Capra of Harnessing the Sky: Frederick "Trap" Trapnell, the U.S. Navy's Aviation Pioneer, 1923–1952. by Frederick M. Trapnell. Jr. and Dana Trapnell Tibbitts
(Air and Space Power Journal, 2016);Major James Capra, USAF, reviewed Harnessing the Sky: "Trap" Trapnell, the U.S. Navy's Aviation Pioneer, 1923-1952, in the Air and Space Power Journal, Summer 2016. With a B.S. in Irregular Warfare, Major Capra is completing ... -
How can the U.S. military avoid another 9/15 an analysis of the inability of U.S. military leaders to provide an adequate strategy for responding to the 9/11 attacks
(Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2007-12);The purpose of this thesis is to identify the actions the U.S. military should take to ensure the next time it is called upon to provide a campaign strategy to the President, the U.S. military does not repeat the shortfalls ... -
The role of airpower in irregular warfare for the 21st century
(Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School, 2009-12);Throughout the history of warfare, the use of non-traditional soldiers, weapons and tactics to counter the conventional military has become increasingly important. Our enemies in the 21st century rely upon unconventional ...
