Two reports to put on the reading list.  The US military has been revising its Counterinsurgency manual, FM 3-24 (December 2006), and as part of that process the Joint Chiefs of Staff have now issued their updated JP 3-24 on Counterinsurgency (November 2013).  I haven’t had time to digest it yet, but air power is no longer relegated to the closing pages…

The US Air Force is also in the closing stages of its so-called Vector Report on Remotely Piloted Aircraft, which is supposed to map out the likely role of military UAVs over the next 25 years; its release has been delayed for what are described a minor last-minute changes, but just before Christmas the Pentagon released its Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap 2012-2038, which includes its plans for aerial, ground and maritime systems.