Measuring Military Power: The Soviet Air Threat to Europe

318 Pages·2014·9.072 MB·English

by  Epstein, Joshua M

MEASURING
MILITARY POWER
THE SOVIET AIR THREAT TO EUROPE
Written under the auspices of the
Center for International Affairs,
Harvard University
A list of related works written under
the Center's auspices appears at the
back of this book
MEASURING
MILITARY POWER
THE SOVIET AIR THREAT
TO EUROPE
Joshua M. Epstein
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright © 1984 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data will be found
on the last printed page of this book
ISBN 0-691-07671-5
Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the
Whitney Darrow Fund of Princeton University Press
This book has been composed in Lasercomp Times Roman
Clothbound editions of Princeton University Press books are
printed on acid-free paper, and binding materials are chosen for
strength and durability. Paperbacks, although satisfactory for
personal collections, are not usually suitable for library rebinding
Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press
Princeton, New Jersey
DEDICATED TO
MY MOTHER LUCILLE, MY FATHER JOSEPH,
ANDTO
SAM, MY BROTHER

CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES Xl
LIST OF TABLES Xlii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XV
NOTE ON SOVIET SOURCES XVli
PREFACE XLX
INTRODUCTION 3
I Problems of U.S. Tactical Air Force
Modernization 15
II Soviet Weapons Design and the Relative
Nature of the "Gold-Plating" Problem 43
III Soviet Efficiency on the Ground 56
IV Soviet Effectiveness in the Air 99
V The Art of War andt he Crafto f
Threat Assessment 131
VI Soviet Capabilitiesa nd Soviet Doctrine 173
APPENDICES 189
APPENDIX A Some Basic Accounting 191
APPENDIX B The Simple Analytics of
Interdiction Operations 210
APPENDIX C Simulations andS ensitivity
Analyses 225
APPENDIX D A Science of the Plausible with
Three Theorems 262
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 265
INDEX 284

FIGURES
2.1 Venn Diagram of the Intersection of A-7B and
A-7E Avionic Suites 49
2.2 U.S. vs. Soviet Swing-Wing Schemes 53
3.1 The Flow-Line Method 91
5.1 Perfect Cross-Targeting 143
5.2 No Cross-Targeting 144
5.3 Dependence on k 156
5.4 PrincipleofRelativity 157
5.5 k as Multiplier 157
6.1 Cumulative Destruction and Force Attrition
in Simulations I and II 176-177
C.l Exhaustion Point as a Function of ë 241
C.2 Constant Destruction Curve 251