Themed Articles

From Balloons to Drones is an online scholarly platform that seeks to provide analysis and debate about air power history, theory, and contemporary operations in their broadest sense, including space and cyber power.

From Balloons to Drones regularly publishes articles on specific themes. Below is a list of those articles published to date.

The Requirements for High-Intensity Warfare

In 2018, in conjunction with our partners at The Central Blue, From Balloons to Drones published articles that examined the requirements of high-intensity warfare in the 21st Century. These articles provided the intellectual underpinnings to a seminar on high-intensity warfare held on 22 March 2018 by the Williams Foundation in Canberra, Australia.

  1. Anon, ‘Hybrid Warfare, the Electromagnetic Spectrum, and Signposts for #highintensitywar’;
  2. Rodney Barton, ‘Tactical Reconnaissance Redux? The Requirement for Airborne Tactical Reconnaissance in #HighIntensityWar’;
  3. Maria E. Burczynska, ‘Small Air Forces and #HighIntensityWar: Multinational Cooperation as an Opportunity to Build and Strengthen their Capabilities’;
  4. Bleddyn Bowen, ‘Fearing a Space Pearl Harbor: Space Warfare, #highintensitywar, and Air Power’;
  5. Sean Carwardine, ‘Security Forces in #highintensitywar: A Look Back at Airfield Defence for a Future Consideration of the Royal Australian Air Force’;
  6. Rex Harrison, ‘Attrition in Fifth-Generation Air Forces during #highintensitywar’;
  7. Jenna Higgins, ‘Observations on the Character of Future #highintensitywar’;
  8. Brian D. Laslie, ‘#highintensitywar and the Realistic Training Paradigm: Red Flag and Aerial Warfare’;
  9. Chris McInnes, ‘The Champion Team to Fight and Win #highintensitywar: The Case for Australian Expeditionary Air Wings’;
  10. Ross Mahoney, ‘Unpacking the Black Box: Air Force Culture and #HighIntensityWar’;
  11. David Richardson, ‘Society and #highintensitywar’;
  12. Alan Stephens, ‘#highintensitywar and Alliances’;
  13. Lee Tomas, ‘#highintensitywar – From ‘Bats to MAVs’: The Concept is Clear, ‘Small’ is the Future of Aerial Warfare’;
  14. Sean Welsh, ‘#HighIntensityWar – Air Operations at the Level of Boots on the Ground’;
  15. Tyson Wetzel, ‘#highintensitywar and the Enduring Legacy of Operation Bolo.’

Air War Vietnam

In 2019, From Balloons to Drones ran a short series of articles that examined various aspects of the air war over Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s.

  1. Michael Hankins, ‘#AirWarVietnam – Contested Skies: A Brief Guide to the Historiography of the Air War in Vietnam’;
  2. Michael Hankins, ‘#AirWarVietnam – Making a MiG-Killer: Technology and Signals Intelligence for Air-to-Air Combat in Vietnam’;
  3. Hayley Hasik, ‘#AirWarVietnam – From Combat to Cultural Icon: Unraveling the Legacy of the Helicopter in the Vietnam War’;
  4. Ralph Hitchens, ‘#Commentary #AirWarVietnam – President Nixon’s ‘Secret Plan’ to end the war in Vietnam’;
  5. Robert Kodosky, ‘#AirWarVietnam – Weaponised Helicopters and Counterinsurgency: An Exploration of the Different Approaches Advocated in Vietnam by the US Army and the US Marine Corps’;
  6. Brian Laslie, ‘#AirWarVietnam #BookReview – Sherman Lead: Flying the F-4D Phantom II in Vietnam.’