Private Air Forces?

Reading how the Fw-187 and He-100 was used by Industrie-Schutzstaffel I started thinking of applying the idea to the Cold War, major factory complexes getting tax cuts in exchange for providing their own air defence, any thoughts?
 
The first thought I had was "recipe for disaster", but then I calmed down and spent a bit more time thinking about it. And I came to the conclusion that no, it still was a recipe for disaster.
This sort of thing might work during the early days of aviation, pehaps during WW1 or an ATL equivalent. But by WW2 the numbers and quality of the defences were not the only factor in successfully holding off air attacks. How well coordinated they were was equally important, and would only become more so as perfomance improved. During the Battle of Britain the main advantage the RAF enjoyed was not their aircraft or their pilots, but the GCI system based around the radar network. As the Cold War kicks off and aircraft fly faster and higher (and weapons become more capable) the need to intercept attackers further away from their targets becomes even more pressing, which in turn requires good sensor networks coupled to robust command and control systems. This is a situation where economies of scale really pay off; it would not reward haphazard collections of air defence assets controlled by groups that can't coordinate effectively.
 
None of the private aircraft actually entered combat that I know of, but it could have become interesting if the two competitors came to blows.
 
The first thought I had was "recipe for disaster", but then I calmed down and spent a bit more time thinking about it. And I came to the conclusion that no, it still was a recipe for disaster.
This sort of thing might work during the early days of aviation, pehaps during WW1 or an ATL equivalent. But by WW2 the numbers and quality of the defences were not the only factor in successfully holding off air attacks. How well coordinated they were was equally important, and would only become more so as perfomance improved. During the Battle of Britain the main advantage the RAF enjoyed was not their aircraft or their pilots, but the GCI system based around the radar network. As the Cold War kicks off and aircraft fly faster and higher (and weapons become more capable) the need to intercept attackers further away from their targets becomes even more pressing, which in turn requires good sensor networks coupled to robust command and control systems. This is a situation where economies of scale really pay off; it would not reward haphazard collections of air defence assets controlled by groups that can't coordinate effectively.

Franky I dont understand your reasoning at all, why would they be unable to coordinate with the national assets? What does the British Radar chain have to do with factory defence units?
 
The coordination problem isn't the radar net itself. The problems start with the tactics that were developed to make best use of the radar net.

*Any* coordinated air battle is a very complex thing, and the more players there are in the game, the more complex it gets. I don't have any hard-and-fast data on how the complexity escalates (I'm sure it exists, and is probably so classified God needs to sign for it), but I'm betting the curve is geometric or worse. Coordinating multiple units of aircraft, usually of different types (and, in World War II, different models within the same type), all with their own capabilities, is still one of the more difficult things in the military playbook. Take a look at the US Navy's problems with coordination at Midway (all aircraft form one service, and sometimes from the one ship, and there were still issues), or (for the more modern version) the blue-on-blue problems in Operation Desert Storm. Now, add in the extra layer of complication that comes from private squadrons that use their own radio frequencies, have their own doctrine, and may be flying aircraft whose performance is wildly different from the rest of the defensive force. If that mental image doesn't have you reaching for the Johnny Walker, your nerves are better than mine! :D

There's also a turf issue that will inevitably crop up. Part of the reason that the British (and later) air defense networks worked was that they allowed concentration of force. A fighter unit might be scrambled to intercept enemy units that were nowhere near their base of operations, based on need. What happens if the Air Defense Coordinator contacts Private Squadron 008, and instructs them to go to Area "A", and they refuse, because their factory is in Area "C" ?

Third, there's the cost issue...by World War II, the cost of developing, building, and operating combat aircraft was already high enough that no company was going to offset the cost of a private air force with tax breaks. By the time the Jet Age is in full swing, the cost of a private air force will have reached the point where you (as the CEO) can either afford to have a company, or an air force, but not both.
 
The cost might indeed be a problem, perhaps offset by using second hand or less complex aircraft?

As for the the units going to sector "C" when their units are in sector "A" kind of defeats the purpose of having them in the first place.

During the the Cold war Sweden had something called Driftsvärnet ( true they were ground units) that were organized to secure and protect important installations to free up regular units for other tasks. Like the local defence organizations in other countries whats the point of having them if you are sending them to other areas?
 
The cost might indeed be a problem, perhaps offset by using second hand or less complex aircraft?

As for the the units going to sector "C" when their units are in sector "A" kind of defeats the purpose of having them in the first place.

During the the Cold war Sweden had something called Driftsvärnet ( true they were ground units) that were organized to secure and protect important installations to free up regular units for other tasks. Like the local defence organizations in other countries whats the point of having them if you are sending them to other areas?

Brother Stormhammer more or less explained what I was thinking. But with respect to the aspect of local defence units, the problem is one of space and time. You only have a certain amount of time to intercept an incoming air attack before it reaches a point where it can release it's weapons; and the space in which an intercept can be effective is often not where the target is located. It does no good at all to have a flock of F-86s sculling around above their home factory if the enemy can launch their weapons from 100 miles away. The range and power of stand-off weapons only increases as the Cold War goes on, so you have to make your intercepts further and further away. The means the air defence assets have to be positioned where they will do the most good, and if they are tied to a particular factory then they can't be used to assist the defence of other locations. Grossly inefficient at best, more likely ineffective when put to the test.
 
I in IADS stands for "integrated". How are you planning to integrate such units when they operate different types of planes, have different level of training, different doctrine and different agendas? Commander can order subordinates to do something and they will do it because he outranks them and that's how it's done in military. What happens when private pilot refuses to obey orders because he doesn't feel like obeying them? What happens when CEO things pilot disobeying orders was OK? What happens when planes are not maintained as they should be because company is trying to reduce costs?
 
IMO private air-forces wouldn't work well (as well, few would have enough money for even a single aircraft, let alone a squadron), but what might be possible is for some very rich landowners to lease a piece of land to the government to build an air-base on it, and thus get to name the base and the squadron, and choose their coat-of-arms.
 
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