The RAAF is currently preparing to fly in support of the NSW police force for the APEC leaders summit in Sydney.
Combat Air Patrols came about as aircraft grew in strike capability and as few as eight of them could sink an expensive capital ship such as an aircraft carrier.
Combat Air Patrols came about as aircraft grew in strike capability and as few as eight of them could sink an expensive capital ship such as an aircraft carrier. In World War I the aircraft wasn't particularly capable as a strike platform. It could not carry enough bombs of sufficient weight to truly destroy a significant asset. There was not enough aircraft with long enough range to swarm or carpet bomb a target in an attempt to paralyse a nation's production.
Their main value was reconnaissance and protecting reconnaissance assets.
Artillery was a powerful short-range strike weapon in World War I and was an integral component of trench warfare. It was also rather inaccurate. Spotters, unless on high peaks or mountains, had difficulty determining a battery's effectiveness without a clean line of sight.
Unless you put that spotter in the air - in an aircraft or a balloon. Then World War I era artillery becomes much more accurate.
One of the few WWI assets where CAP was flown was to protect hot air balloons. These were tethered to the ground and were for artillery spotting. They were also a target that an aircraft could destroy despite being heavily defended with machine guns, anti-aircraft guns and fighter patrols. Arthur Cobby downed five balloons - the AFC's only balloon ace.
CAP over the APEC summit has little use unless non-state actors mimic the attacks on the US on September 11th with an airliner. It is a very visible presence however. These days home-made UAVs can be made cheaply, accurately and deliver a load with decent accuracy in a miniaturised form. Radio controlled aircraft with wireless cameras make them even more accurate.
