The security of the European sky is not guaranteed. A commander of the British air forces, Ian Cab Townsend, has assured in Business Insider that control: “With her [la seguridad]everything is possible. Without it, everything is dangerous.”
The emergence of drones and missiles in the context of wars has completely changed the equation. “For the last decade, we have had to deal with little green men on the ground, and now we increasingly face little gray drones in the air. Democratized air power is liberating and, at the same time, challenging,” determines the military man. “There must be a tireless fight to control NATO’s skies.”
In the context of the war in Ukraine, drones, missiles and dense air defenses have revealed that Western armies have not had to face in decades. According to the media, NATO must fight for freedom of action in crowded, contested and dangerous skies at almost all altitudes.
“The modern integrated air missile defense operational environment is becoming increasingly complex and ambiguous,” laments the expert. “The critical importance of air control is born from bitter experience. History constantly teaches us that fighting without air control dramatically increases the cost, complexity and downtime“he adds.
For him, Ukraine is “a stark reminder of what happens when neither side can effectively control the air.” As explained in the newspaper, this causes the fight to become a brutal war of attrition with largely static front lines.
“We are back in an era of competition, risk and consequences. And although we have enjoyed air superiority for the past 30 years, current operations are clearly more contested,” warns Townsend. Britain, he says, “cannot afford to be complacent.”
Other officials and war analysts consulted by the media warn that the West can no longer guarantee control of the air in a future large-scale war against powers.
The United States military is also aware of this paradigm shift. The commander Rachel Martindirector of the Army’s new Advanced Unmanned Lethality Course, assures in Business Insiderthat “we are used to air supremacy as an Army”, but Ukraine is showing that “that can’t be like that.”
