The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyberspace. A crucial part of achieving that mission involves obtaining and maintaining superiority in the air domain. That domain, defined for the first time in this publication, is the area, beginning at the Earth's surface, where the atmosphere has a major effect on the movement, maneuver, and employment of joint forces. Within that domain, forces exercise degrees of control or levels of influence, characterized as parity, superiority, or supremacy. The US has enjoyed at least air superiority in all conflicts since the Korean War. The US will probably retain that superiority in today's ongoing conflicts, but the prospect of near-peer competitors in the not-too-distant future raise the possibility of air parity - a condition in the air battle in which one force does not have air superiority over others - or even conceding superiority to the adversary if Air Force forces are not properly employed. Our possession of air superiority helps enable joint forces to dominate adversary operations in all domains and to achieve a wide range of cross-domain effects. Unless we can freely maneuver in the air while denying the enemy the ability to do the same, we do not have superiority. Therefore, this publication addresses how the commander of Air Force forces can best employ his assets within a joint force to achieve control in the air domain to enable the overall joint force effort. Counterair is more than just force protection or air and missile defense. It also includes offensive actions against an enemy's capabilities, allowing us to seize the initiative and force the adversary into a defensive posture. Furthermore, counterair is executed by more than just air assets. Counterair is a joint, multinational, and interagency team effort, comprising a combination of command and control systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems, aircraft and missile systems in air-to-air and air-to-ground roles, and surface-to-air defense weapons. The effect of air superiority is not normally an end unto itself. Air superiority provides enormous military advantages, allowing the joint force greater freedom of action to carry out its assigned missions (freedom to attack) while minimizing its vulnerability to enemy detection and attack (freedom from attack). The success of any major air, land, or maritime operation may depend on the degree of air superiority achieved. This Air Force doctrine document provides guidance for designing, planning, integrating, coordinating, executing, and assessing counterair operations. It provides operational doctrine to gain and maintain control of the air. As such, it focuses on how air forces can be organized and employed to successfully conduct counterair operations.

Air Force Doctrine ANNEX 3-01 Counterair Operations 27 October 2015 The US Air Force flies, fights, and wins in the domains of air, space, and cyberspace. Control of the air provides the joint force with freedom of action while reducing vulnerability to enemy detection, attack, and other effects. Joint doctrine provides broad guidance for countering air and missile threats (see Joint Publication 3-01, Countering Air and Missile Threats), but does not describe the full spectrum of control of the air, as this publication does. The Air Force brings specific capabilities to a joint force to achieve various levels of control of the air by operating in the air domain. Clearly defined domains help identify the conditions and capabilities under which systems and personnel conduct operations, but do not mandate or imply command relationships. The air domain is the area, beginning at the Earth's surface, where the atmosphere has a major effect on the movement, maneuver, and employment of joint forces. Control of the air is normally one of the first priorities of the joint force. This is especially so whenever the enemy is capable of threatening friendly forces from the air or inhibiting a joint force commander's (JFC's) ability to conduct operations. Counterair is a mission that integrates offensive and defensive operations to attain and maintain a desired degree of control of the air. Counterair missions are designed to destroy or negate enemy aircraft and missiles, both before and after launch. Counterair helps ensure freedom to maneuver, freedom to attack, and freedom from attack. Counterair is directed at enemy forces and other target sets that directly (e.g., aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, ballistic missiles) or indirectly (e.g., airfields, fuel, command and control facilities, network links) challenge control of the air. Airmen integrate capabilities from all components to conduct intensive and continuous counterair operations aimed at gaining varying degrees of control of the air at the time and place of their choosing.

Air Force Doctrine Document (AFDD) 2-1.1 provides Air Force doctrine for counter air operations and supports basic air and space doctrine. It replaces AFDD 2-1.1, dated 6 May 1998. This AFDD applies to all active duty Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, and civilian Air Force personnel. This doctrine is authoritative but not directive; commanders are encouraged to exercise judgment in applying this doctrine to accomplish their missions. The mission of the United States Air Force is to defend the United States by gaining and exploiting air and space superiority. Air and space superiority provides the freedom in to operate in the air, space, and information medium. Unless we can freely maneuver in each of these environments while denying the enemy the same, we do not have air and space superiority.

This Air Force Doctrine Document (AFDD) implements Air Force Policy Directive (AFPD) 10-13, Air and Space Doctrine. AFDD 3-1 Air Warfare establishes operational doctrine for air warfare. It provides initial guidance for conducting air operations as part of aerospace warfare. Specifically, this document contains beliefs and principles that guide the organization, command and control, employment, and support of air forces conducting wartime operations. It examines relationships among objectives, forces, environments, and actions that enhance the ability of air operations to contribute to achieving assigned objectives. It focuses on the sequencing of events and the application of forces and resources to ensure aerospace power makes useful contributions to military and national objectives. It examines the importance of command relationships, intelligence, space, logistics, and other factors to the planning and conduct of air warfare.

The US Air Force provides unique warfighting capabilities that are essential to joint operations. Foremost among these capabilities is the ability to rapidly focus American combat power and life-saving resources anywhere on the planet. Frequently, and especially in the opening stages of a conflict, air and space power may be the main manifestation of combat power we bring to bear against an adversary. Of these capabilities, the Air Force provides a very singular form of power: the ability to rapidly position and sustain forces at places and times of our choosing. This pivotal capability—air mobility—is the essential ingredient for modern US expeditionary operations and supports joint force commander-desired effects to deter, dissuade, or destroy the enemy. Force projection provides for presence, mass and maneuver, surprise, security and economy. It is the sum of an impressive fleet of transport and aerial refueling aircraft, underpinned by a flexible support system, and operated by a specialized cadre of active duty Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, and Air Force civilian personnel. While other forms of American military power have some degree of inherent mobility, the scale of flexibility and responsiveness of the Air Force's air mobility forces is singular in the history of world conflict. This Air Force Doctrine Document (AFDD) 3-17, Air Mobility Operations, has been prepared under the direction of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. This document establishes doctrinal guidance for the application of the air mobility forces and is consistent with, and complementary to, capstone doctrine contained in AFDD 1, Air Force Basic Doctrine, and AFDD 2, Operations and Organization. AFDD 3-17 serves as the keystone doctrine document for employing airlift, air refueling, and air mobility support elements as an integrated system of operations.

This document is the Air Force's premier statement of warfighting principles and beliefs, updated in late 2011. It is the senior doctrine publication from which all other Air Force doctrine flows. Historically, airpower has been associated with its more familiar and visible aspects, such as air-to-air combat, strategic bombing, and long-range heavy airlift. However, airpower has many less visible but equally important missions across the range of military operations: providing close air support and tactical mobility to our ground forces; positioning and resupplying remote forces; obtaining and providing detailed and timely intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; providing humanitarian relief; projecting world-wide command and control; and training of coalition partners in the use of airpower, just to name a few. Also, while many parts of the Air Force are visibly engaged in overseas expeditionary operations, other aspects of the Air Force are quietly at work day-to-day, overwatching the homeland. These include nuclear forces on alert; ground- and space-based national warning systems; cyberspace forces monitoring the security of military networks; and fighters on call to defend sovereign airspace. Much has transpired in the world since the previous edition of AFDD 1 was published in 2003. Irregular warfare and homeland defense have taken on more importance; the Air Force has recognized cyberspace as an operational domain and has renewed its commitment to nuclear operations; and we are now investing heavily in unmanned aircraft systems. Seven years ago, we could not have accurately foreseen these changes; looking forward, the future is equally unpredictable. While we cannot accurately predict where and how we'll next be engaged, doctrine provides a leg up, outlining the basics of organization and command, providing guidance on how to think about and plan for different types of operations and missions. These foundational basics allow us to respond more quickly, freeing commanders and planners to think about larger issues such as strategy, operational art, and objectives. Contents: Chapter One - Doctrine * Chapter Two - Airpower * Chapter Three - War * Chapter Four - Principles And Tenets * Chapter Five - Air Force Functions * Chapter Six - Commanding And Organizing Air Force Forces * Chapter Seven - The Air Force Component Within The Joint Force