Air Operations

The air environment is unique. Air surrounds the globe and overlays the land and sea. Consequently, air power is inherently joint, as air power has decisive impact when orchestrated along with land, maritime, space and cyberspace power.4 Air power is also pervasive, as aircraft are rarely physically constrained by national boundaries or terrain, so can potentially obtain access to any point on Earth. The distinctiveness of the environment means that air power has very different attributes to maritime power and land power. Consequently properly executed joint operations, where air, land, sea, space and cyber capabilities are used to complement one another’s strengths and weaknesses, can be particularly effective.

(Allied Joint Doctrine for Air and Space Operations, AJP-3.3 Ed.B, Apr. 2016)

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