eli5: Why does the US Military have airplanes in multiple branches (Navy, Marines etc) as opposed to having all flight operations handled by the Air Force exclusively?
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Air Force primary uses airplanes as weapons.
Navy uses airplanes as ship launched weapons.
Army uses aircraft as support weapons for ground troops.
Also all the forces coordinate and cooperate to use the most capapale asses at any given time.
Navy can operate fighter jets anywhere in the world, army can operate aircraft in much more adverse conditions
Because that gets very messy in terms of parallel chains of command.
If a marine commander decides on a mission he can order his own people to go do it.
Alternatively he would be **requesting** his colleague in the Airforce command to approve his mission and assign resources to it. That defacto makes him subordinate to the airforce command since they can veto anything requiring flight.
If you decide to set it up so that the local airforce organization is permanently subordinate to Marine command, they should just be organized as part of the marines.
The comments addressing mission sets are true, but not ultimately why the different services have their own aircraft. It comes down to control and convenience. If the Air Force held all of the planes, they would have a lot of control over the navy and the missions the navy wants to perform. The same goes for the army. For example, the navy wants to do a carrier exercise with planes in the South Pacific. To do so, they need planes. If the Air Force had all the planes, the Navy would have to get the Air Force involved to execute a drill with a carrier. Under the current structure, that isn’t necessary because the navy has its own planes. The current setup is much more convenient, and efficient, for all parties involved.
The simple answer is…..The Army needs planes to protect ground forces, the Navy needs planes to protect forces at sea and the marines need planes to support amphibious assaults. Note the protect, protect, support in that statement. The Air Force has the job of taking out infrastructure.
That’s the gist of it.
Because each branch of the military, like all government departments, are designed to soak up as much budget as possible always expanding.
Basically the branches complete amongst each other. It’s a very old cultural thing within the services. Intelligence branches too. There’s practical reasons but nothing that couldn’t be solved with more cooperation. It’s mostly just boys who want to play with their own toys their own way.
How many types of spoons, knives, and forks do you have in your drawer? Different missions require different planes that are best suited for those missions.
Artists have different types of paint brushes. Golfers have different kinds of clubs. Etc etc.
If your Navy’s Army doesn’t have an AirForce are you really a Nation?
Basically, it is a combination of different roles for different branches with a lot of overlap in between. As a general rule, if you need to level a country, you call in the U.S. air force with their large strategic bomber fleet, escorted by long range fighters and supported by refueling tankers.
If you need to move lots of men and combat equipment and vehicles and supplies quickly and without worrying about the cost, then you call in the airforce fleet of heavy cargo aircraft supported by the army’s fleet of smaller transport planes and helicopters to get those men/supplies/equipment where the larger planes can’t go.
If you need to launch a strike mission far away from an Allied air base and too far away to practically refuel your aircraft enroute, then you call up the Navy and ask where is the nearest aircraft carrier. The planes on the carrier can perform all of the major roles the airforce can, but in a much more mobile package and on a smaller scale.
If you need to transport a large amount of men/equipment/supplies but aren’t in the biggest hurry to get them there, and are worried about the budget, then you use navy/army ships rather than aircraft. But, if you want those supplies defended as they transit hostile waters, then having the airpower a carrier provides is the best means of doing so.
Lastly, to the marines and army, and navy, if you need to land a ton of troops, supplies, equipment on say… a fortified island/coastline, then having a carrier air wing along with a couple amphibious landing ships and their marine expeditionary fighter wing, and their supporting attack helicopters to soften up the beach head and provide close air support and rapid troop deployment… well, hopefully you’ll start to get the idea.
tl;dr: has to do with fulfilling specific missions, projecting force differently (even though both Air Force and navy can strike a target across long distances, sometimes you move ship-based planes in or out of theater).
Btw, most people forget the most of the aircraft of both navy and Air Force have more to do with logistics than anything else.
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