Army vs air force?

promethius9594

I have a couple points to make:

Anyone who thinks the army would win simply because of numbers or being on the ground is obviously forgetting the Korean War. All you have to do is draw a line of a small holding force (yes, the US Air Force has it's own security and ground capable forces) and then bomb anything that's approaching from outside that line. The army might outnumber the air force 20 to 1, but that doesn't mean they could sustain 100 to 1 losses.

Second, there is currently no such thing as a "superior" Ground to Air Missile capable of holding against our air forces. Just ask Syria/Lebanon how their last time defending against the Israeli Air Force went... (most arab middle eastern nations tend to still be strong advocates for SAMs and shoulder launched missiles, while israel follows an Air Power doctrine akin to the US).

So, Air Force, but only if we were willing to bomb the hell out of our own cities (and cut power, food, water, etc). Essentially, we could stop the army, but there would be mass exodus and destruction.

soulstryker

air force

anythingwilldo

air force - no doubt about it

rz1971

I would have to say army. It takes people on the ground to hold a position. Air strikes are good, and dangerous but planes cannot hold a position on the ground much like ships cannot hold ground. A successful military will incorporate all parts otherwise their are wasting resources.

MP US Army

I would say the Army. Because as long as the Army can get to the Air Force Base, They can take it.

Any Rifle BN can take an Airfield.

The Army bases would probably be toast but it depends on how good their Air Defense is.

DOOM

It depends on what kind of war it is. If it's a ground war, the Army wins it. If it's an air war, the Air Force takes it (mainly because the Army can't fly fixed wing into combat).

Zurikon

Well it would seem like the Air Force but if the Army had many ground to air missles & helicopters like apaches & little birds, Id say the Army cold put up a good fight & may win. Or right as the war starts to happen the Army sends its special forces over to the air force bases & starts to take out pilots.

matt m

Depends.
Ever since the integration of Air Power every General has understood that you can't control an area without Air Superiority.
But then again, you have to have a place where the planes can take off from.
Most Air Forces employ ground troops that specialize in Air Base Defense and anyone who knows anything about Mil tactics knows that the defenders mostly have the advantage.
It'd be a good fight though. Interesting to see how it turned out!

Dustin

You can't win a war without air superiority or boots on the ground, look at the Gulf War, the AF basically won it but it wasn't considered over until the Army and the Marines were on the ground in Baghdad. Neither win, both can't do their job, as with most wars with equal advantages, the one with the most people would win.

Knock It Down!

Planes would eventually have to return to ground to refuel and reammo whereas the army's ground forces have unlimited supplies as they can easily do that, so the army would win.

Matt

The Air Force has over 20,000 nuclear weapons. The ARMY has 0, any more questions?

Jason B

Well, it depends on many things. If it is in an urban environment like basically all coups, the army will most likely win because no (level-minded) AF is going to bomb their own capital. Even surgical strikes would most-likely still cause damage to their own civilians. Helicopters would give the AF an advantage, but assuming the army has any AA, they will win.

The army would win beyond a shadow of a doubt. the air force is used for offensive operations against targets far away from its bases and wouldnt have enough firepower to repel an attack by an army. the army is usually numerically superior to an air force and soldiers killed in action can be replaced easily compared to killed air force pilots which could take years to train new ones. the army has tanks, artillery cannons, anti air craft guns, surface to air missiles and soldiers on the ground that can capture or destroy air force buildings. since the army and airforce are in close proximity to eachother because the war is being waged in the same country, the army is so dangerous that if so much as a handful of helicoptors, tanks or troops make it to an air force base, it faces destruction. the air force can send bombers to bomb army targets on the ground but the army can always counter that with aa guns, sams or hide in mountains, hills or dig tunnels underground to move around undetected by the air force, come out of a hole near an airfield and bomb it. if the air force and army battled in an open field, the bombers would bomb and inflict high casualties against the army but enough army personnel would slip through the cracks of the airforces carpetbombing and make it to an air base and destroy it, leaving the planes and bombers nowhere to land.

powellinthesouth

If the army is strong with say... missiles.

nitebearer

Contained within their own country then the army stands a better chance as they would be able to get to the communications systems and power systems control centres. This would cut power to the airforce bases which would only have power as long as they have fuel for generators (so a week maybe).

The airforce if properly coordinated could put up a good fight and could possibly control part of a country where the army would be exposed during operations. This of course would depend on the airforces night flying capability.

So for the most part army would hold the upper hand.

For going against another country, the airforce would be better. Hit and run, targets of opportunity, targets to hinder enemys communications, travel, fuel supplies etc.

rkelley707

I would like to say Air Force but unless they got a few Nukes they wont be able to cleanly sweep all the Army. People can hide, Planes cant.

anonymousryu

The Air Force can obliterate anything from the air and their arsenal.... But the Army will survive it all and have the means to utilize their own air resources, as well as ground forces and armored vehicles and artillery and missiles and most importantly their superior anti-air capabilities.
Air force are in a hard position if they had to defend something without a competitive and sizeable ground force.

Sorry but the Air Force will lose. They're too specialized. Army is the most diverse branch of all the available branches and are ready to take on any task.
Hooah!

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