The History of Air Forces Around the World

The History of Air Forces Around the World — page 5
THE HISTORY OF AIR FORCES AROUND THE WORLD politically and militarily around the world Early armies exercised force projection by maintaining frontier garrisons or patrolling roads that were frequently used by merchants or pilgrims The British navy maintained con trol of the world s sea lanes as a measure of force projection during the era of the British Empire it retains some measure of that con trol to this day through its overseas territories The expansion of air power revolu tionized the way in which countries could project force The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 demonstrated that naval air power could be used in a devastating man ner to strike targets thousands of miles away The Berlin airlift which utilized air trans port to bring relief to the blockaded city of West Berlin in 1948 49 was a classic dem onstration of soft power projection The development of strategic weapons systems such as long range bombers and innovations such as in air refueling greatly expanded the sphere of action for air forces and targets on the other side of the world were suddenly within reach The launch of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik in 1957 inaugurated the satellite age and ignited the Space Race as the United States and the Soviet Union sought to assert control of the Io