Features of the use of air support forces in conditions of asymmetric conflict on the example of the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960)

Abstract

This article analyzes the materials of the British military, devoted to the peculiarities of the use of air support forces in conditions of asymmetric conflicts on the example of the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960). Attention is focused on the transfer of British colonial experience by the US military, carried out through pilot schools, symposia, publication of reports of colonial military. The main strategic and tactical tasks of the air force in counter-guerrilla warfare are considered. The main difficulties of using support aviation forces in conditions of anti-instabilities are analysed, the tasks faced by the pilots are considered. The article focuses on the functional features of the use of helicopter forces, which have become one of the defining mechanisms for dealing with the insurgency. It is concluded that it was the British experience of using the air support forces in asymmetric conflicts that formed the basis of the strategy and tactics of the US air forces in the framework of the Vietnam War.