Software Defines Tactics

The book “The Bomber Mafia” revolves around the efforts of military officers to develop effective tactics for a bomber force, emphasizing the feedback cycles between operational results and new bombsight and aircraft development. This storyline is timeless: Major military advances like the Blitzkrieg tactics credited with Germany’s rapid gains at the opening of World War II are largely about pioneering new tactics enabled by emerging technology — at that time, aircraft, radios, and armor. While the ability of the U.S. military and its industrial base to bend metal and push the bounds of physics with aircraft design has slowed dramatically as technology and bureaucratic processes have matured, there still lies ahead a bold frontier of new innovation.