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The higher ground
The great Chinese military strategist Sun-Tzu said, “In a war, the General who occupies the higher ground, will win”. The history of military aviation, is in a way, the search for “higher ground”.
It started from balloons floating overlooking enemy territory with “spotters” on board. The Spotter was a person with good eyesight and a telescope, who reported on enemy movements to his army below. The first recorded use of spotters and their balloons was in 1794, during the French Revolution when the French used this technique with devastating effect against the Austrian army. They could see exactly where the Austrians were positioned and directed their own cannons with an accuracy that had not been possible before.
But then balloons are balloons. They can not do what aircraft can. Men dreamed of flying heavier-than-air aircraft (planes) but that was not considered possible according to the science of the time. It was said, “If God wanted men to fly, he would have given them wings”. Well, the Wright brothers — two brothers who owned a bicycle repair shop — proved that theory wrong.
The first military planes were not much faster than a car. But they proved their effectiveness during the First World War. This war also produced the first Aces. An “Ace” is a pilot who has shot down more than 5 enemy planes. The most well known of the Ace pilots was the German Baron Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the “Red Baron” because of his red plane and his “enemy”, Eddie Rickenbacker of the United States. In those days, pilots from both sides did not think of the other pilot as their enemy and gave them respect. The real enemy was the sky because their planes were very unstable and the accident rate was pretty high. By the end of WW-I, the role of the aircraft changed from “spotter” to bomber. They did shoot down other aircraft and they did collect intelligence, but their most devastating performances were when they bombed enemy positions and when they engaged in “Balloon bursting”, shooting down the other side’s balloons and their spotters, effectively destroying the other side’s “high ground”.
All through the 20th century the search for the higher ground continued. This was what the whole “Space Race” with USA vs Russia was all about. Even now, “balloons and spotters” are used, only they are not real balloons with people in them. These are now called spy-satellites. And they do exactly what the balloons of the past used to do.
The space race fueled research into faster planes that could fly higher. This research continues to this day. The goal is to create a hypersonic aircraft that takes off like plane and flies higher than a rocket. These planes would be able to carry passengers around the world at orbital velocities, though military application will come first.
The military side of aviation has taken a leap since the Second World War. Since the jet engine was invented, planes started to get air-to-air missiles and advanced avionics. And apart from “fixed-wing aircraft” (planes), the world also saw the appearance of “rotary-wing aircraft” (helicopters). A helicopter might not be considered as deadly as a fighter/bomber plane, but the people at the receiving end of a helicopter-gunship’s devastating fire-power would disagree. In fact, the Cobra Gunship (used by the Pakistan Army) carries more weapons than the F-16. The chopper can land and operate from anywhere, changing the rules of modern warfare forever. And unlike a balloon, it can and will fire back if fired upon.
Pakistan’s armed forces have not lagged behind others in acquiring and indeed, making, a contribution in the field of military aviation. From producing training aircraft, (Super-Mashak and the jet trainer K-8), to designing and making (with our Chinese friends), the deadliest aircraft for the cheapest cost that we will have, the Super-7, we are very much in the race for air-power superiority.
Our weapons, though old in some respects are not toys. For example, the Pakistan airforce, flies the most Mirage aircraft after France itself. These old mirages have been upgraded with new radars and cockpits making them a bigger threat to the enemy than before. Old planes like the F-6, are being replaced by the new F-7PG with its beautiful double-delta wing which gives it superior performance in the air. The new threat to our planes is the BVR air-to-air missile (eg. the AA-12). BVR (Beyond Visual Range) technology is being acquired by others and we have to some extent been lagging behind. But fortunately the Super-7 is being designed with BVR in mind. It will one day, be able to destroy anything in the air within a radius of 100 kilometres.
Now that is what Master Sun Tzu would have loved.
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