Needless to say, the AATF can rapidly secure and defend key terrain such as crossing sites, road junctions, bridges or deep objectives. They can hold these pieces of key terrain and pass armored units through to continue combat operations in depth. This is a traditional task in areas with terrain such as is found in Korea.

Subscribe Today

• Subscribe to Armchair General Magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!
 

They can bypass enemy positions in order to achieve surprise. When timed and planned right, there is no modern surprise more dislocating than facing an unexpected aerial assault. They can conduct operations at night to facilitate deception and surprise and execute fast-paced operations over extended distances. Their mobility even allows them to execute economy-of-force operations over a wide area by holding critical but not decisive terrain for a specified time or until conditions are met that trigger their movement to other objectives. They can provide rapid reinforcement to committed units.

AIR ASSAULT – WHAT IT CANNOT DO 

The AATF sounds like the do all/catch all unit, doesn’t it? Well, not quite. As with any force, the AATF has limitations. An air assault task force is light, mobile, and relies on helicopter support throughout any air assault operation. Helicopters may be incredibly mobile, but they are machines and are affected by the weather, maintenance, and can be hindered by battlefield obscuration. The birds themselves are also subject to high fuel (JP4) and ammunition consumption rates. Lastly, remember that the force itself is light once the helicopters depart.

Helicopters are vulnerable to adverse weather such as extreme heat and cold which affects the helicopters allowable cargo load (ACL). Other environmental conditions such as blowing snow and sand can limit flight operations, hinder visibility, or degrade range. This is what happened to the helicopters sent to rescue the hostages in Iran (OPERATION EAGLE CLAW in 1980). The heat and blowing sand degraded the helicopters performance significantly and contributed heavily to mission failure.

Once on the ground, the air assault troops rely on aerial lines of communication (ALOC) for resupply. This is why air assault troops require a ground link up within 48 hours or must have robust air support. Helicopters are vulnerable to hostile aircraft—particularly fast movers—air defense, and electronic warfare action. Don’t forget small arms ground fire. During the initial ground attack during Operation Iraqi Freedom, ground fire wreaked havoc on Apaches conducting deep strikes.

Remember that once the troops get off the birds, they become light infantry with reduced ground mobility. Once inserted, the air assault troopers have all the strengths and weaknesses of any light infantry force. As a light force, they have limited nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) protection and even more limited decontamination capability.

They are also dependent on the availability of suitable LZ and PZs. LZ / PZ analysis must be thorough. AATF ground troops have little vehicle-mounted antitank weapon support.

Attacks (ground, air, or artillery) during loading and unloading of the helicopters can be devastating. The infantry is also exposed when moving into position or when not dug in. Air strikes can also disrupt an air assault due to the limited array of ADA systems that can be deployed with an air assault task force. Electronic warfare (jamming) hinders operations since air assault is heavily reliant on radio communications for command and control (C2). A major threat to air assault is enemy artillery or other fires that may destroy helicopters and air assault forces during PZ or LZ operations. This is mitigated by proper planning and preparation of the battlefield—enemy air defenses and artillery must be pre-targeted and suppressed during the air movement at a minimum.

Help Armchair General by bookmarking to