Air | Doctrines Hearts of Iron IV Guide

Last update: 01 February 2017

In the case of aviation, you can notice at first glance that it focuses on clearing territory of enemy forces, or on direct support for land units. Aviation's main purpose is to secure land divisions and also make it possible to perform effective bomber operations. It is a good idea to develop it, even within to a restricted extent, to keep up in the case of defensive war, where losing control over air space can quickly lead to chaos in the army's actions and cuts it off from basic deliveries.

It should be noted that air doctrine trees are not too extensive, but there are many points where you have give your choices consideration and which will determine following steps. At any moment, you can change your variant, both for key points and for the entire tree.

Strategic destruction

This doctrine reinforces mainly factors that decide the success of bomber missions. In here, you can find factors that affect more effective use of other units, but the base of this doctrine is to destroy enemy's key buildings and infrastructure. Just like armed invasion, air raids can be destructive. Destruction by bombardment permanently cripples enemy economy which directly affects production of supplies. When you control air space over enemy territory long enough, you will completely disable enemy actions which makes it easier to launch land actions.

This doctrine is the best for the players who like attacking strategic targets and weaken the opponent without risking their own land units. It harmonizes well with Grand battleplan and Superior firepower of land doctrines.

Battlefield support

In the case of this doctrine, aviation and land forces cooperate closely. Each fragment of seized territories is credited to coordinated actions of these two. Majority of issues in this doctrine focus on operation of jet fighters, but there also are reinforcements for maritime aviation and effectiveness of bombardment. Thanks to the support of aviation, you can easily destroy defense positions and wreak havoc among enemy lines, which effectively lowers effectiveness of his actions. It is useful both in the case of invasion and defensive war. Thanks to the versatility, it harmonizes with mobile warfare and mass attack doctrines.

This doctrine will be interesting to all of the players who rely on their aviation for the strength of their army. Domination in air favors effectiveness of land actions and makes invasion on enemy territory easier. This doctrine also increases your chances to obtain the title of the ace of aviation, which boosts damage dealt to enemies.

Operational integrity

Each type of doctrines has one that does not favor the specific type of actions, but with good decision-making, it integrates with any decision that you make during the game. Operational integrity is a doctrine of this type for aviation. This doctrine assumes thorough support for all types of units, and even in spite of relatively low bonuses, when fully developed, it makes you aviation exceptionally versatile. Apart from the standard bonuses to air missions, you also receive an increased chance of receiving the title of the ace of aviation. This is rounded up with the option to increase effectiveness of bomber defense. This may be decisive on effectiveness of missions that you perform in air space dominated by the enemy.

This doctrine is especially addressed to players who lack a defined idea for their aviation. Due to the characteristics of this variant, you do not have to hurry too much to start your works here.