Ground based defenses promise attrition while forcing air forces into standoff range.
Coalition performance in the Gulf War showed future adversaries that they would suffer tremendously by trying to match symmetrically US airpower capability. US strategists should expect enemy systems in the future aimed at causality sensitivity in situations where US vital interests are not at stake. These issues illuminate the need to make defense suppression a planning priority to ensure air superiority. This research logically flows through three phases to illustrate and categorize SEAD objectives and strategy. First, phase is a historical review of suppression operations significant to US strategy development from W.W.II to the present, focusing on enduring truths that emerge concerning suppression operations.