Ep. 6: Frank Ledwidge on Airpower

Biography Frank Ledwidge is a senior fellow of law and strategy at the Royal Air Force College in Cranwell, England. Ledwidge served as an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve and later worked in British foreign policy, focusing on the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia. In 2015, Ledwidge earned his doctorate in War Studies at the King's College in London. He is the author of several books, including Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan, Investment in Blood: The True Cost of Britain's Afghan War, and Aerial Warfare: The Battle for the Skies.  Times 01:14 - Introduction 04:27 - Origins and importance of airpower in the World War I 10:43 - From air reconnaissance to air bombings 12:43 - The Interwar Period and the "prophets" of air war 17:57 - How air bombing theories influence British and American World War II strategy 22:04 - Air raid casualties 29:05 - Control of the air during the Cold War 34:49 - Perceptions of the U.S.'s mistaken bombing of the Chinese Embassy 36:49 - Airpower in modern wars 38:57 - Theories of air warfare applied to space Recorded November 2, 2021

Om Podcasten

This podcast seeks to learn what war teaches. There has been a steady decline in the study of military history and its associated theoretical discipline, strategy.This podcast seeks to fill that gap through in-depth interviews on military and diplomatic history. Our guests have included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, and former China Select Committee chairman Mike Gallagher. We discuss the battlefield commanders, diplomats, strategists, policymakers, and statesmen who have had to make wartime decisions in the ancient and modern eras. The subject of an episode may be an historical battle, campaign, or conflict; the conduct of policy in the course of a major international incident; the work of a famous strategist; the nature of a famous weapon; or the legacy of an important military commander or political leader.   Aaron MacLean is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Visit our Substack for episode transcripts Follow along on Instagram