Army Attack Aviation Returning to the Close Fight

This paper seeks to answer the question of whether or not the modern threat environment should drive U.S. Army Attack Aviation to shift its focus from the deep fight to the close battle. The paper concludes that the modern threat of asymmetric warfare in urban environments should drive training, doctrine, and aircraft and weapons development to optimize readiness for close air support of ground forces in Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT). This conclusion is based an historic review of the evolution of U.S. attack helicopters and their employment, an analysis of the modern threat environment which indicates a strong likelihood of fighting in urban environments, a review of existing aviation doctrine for MOUT, and a review of two recent MOUT case studies, Chechnya and Somalia. These two case studies demonstrate that the most effective method of employing attack helicopters in MOUT is as a fire support element in the close fight. This paper argues in closing that U.S. Army Aviation must move quickly to develop clear and effective doctrine and training methods for employing attack helicopters in the close fight. Furthermore, the U.S. Army must develop future aircraft, weapons systems, and munitions to optimize close air support effectiveness and aircraft survivability.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.