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Counter-air Patrol
Counter-air patrol, known as Flower missions in RAF parlance, is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft against other fighters, common in World War II and sometimes combined with ''fighter sweeps'' (Rhubarb missions) against targets of opportunity. Counter-air patrol is an attempt to achieve air superiority by maintaining patrols above and around enemy airfields. Aircraft are vulnerable on take off, fully loaded and working to gain altitude and speed. The aim of the counter-air patrol was to pick off enemy fighters as they took off and during their climb to an operational height. Fighter sweeps were used both to attrit the enemy and to provide cover for bombing raids by forcing enemy fighters to protect their own airfields. References {{reflist See also *Combat air patrol *Intruder (air combat) *Offensive counter air Offensive counter-air (OCA) is a military term for the suppression of an enemy's military air power, primarily through ground attacks targeting enemy air b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glossary Of RAF Code Names
Code words used by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War: *Angels – height in thousands of feet. *Bandit – identified enemy aircraft. *Bogey – unidentified (possibly unfriendly) aircraft. *Buster – radio-telephony code phrase for 'maximum throttle' or full power climb. *Channel Stop – Air operations intended to stop enemy shipping passing through the Strait of Dover.Rawlings, John D.R., ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft'', London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd. *Circus – daytime bomber attacks with fighter escorts against short range targets, to occupy enemy fighters and keep them in the area concerned. *Diver – radio-telephony code word for a sighted V-1 flying bomb. *Flower – Counter-air patrols in the area of enemy airfields to preventing aircraft from taking off and attacking those aircraft that succeeded. *Gardening – mine-laying operations. *Instep – missions to restrict attacks on Coastal Command aircraft by maintaining a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fighter Aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield permits bombers and attack aircraft to engage in tactical and strategic bombing of enemy targets. The key performance features of a fighter include not only its firepower but also its high speed and maneuverability relative to the target aircraft. The success or failure of a combatant's efforts to gain air superiority hinges on several factors including the skill of its pilots, the tactical soundness of its doctrine for deploying its fighters, and the numbers and performance of those fighters. Many modern fighter aircraft also have secondary capabilities such as ground attack and some types, such as fighter-bombers, are designed from the outset for dual roles. Other fighter designs are highly specialized while still filling the main ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Target Of Opportunity
A target of opportunity is a target "visible to a surface or air sensor or observer, which is within range of available weapons and against which fire has not been scheduled or requested." A target of opportunity comes in two forms; "unplanned" and "unanticipated". Unplanned targets of opportunity are those that fall within mission parameters as appropriate targets but were not included within a mission brief. Unanticipated targets are those that fall outside of mission parameters because their availability was not expected, such as an otherwise high-value target being identified at a location where another unrelated mission is underway. __TOC__ Procedure In preparation for most ordinary combat military operations, armed forces are given a series of objectives that may include one or more primary targets. During combat operations, additional targets may be present. Provided any action to deal with those targets would not compromise outlined operational objectives, the military pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Superiority
Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of command of the sea. Air power has increasingly become a powerful element of military campaigns; military planners view having an environment of at least air superiority as a necessity. Air supremacy allows increased bombing efforts, tactical air support for ground forces, paratroop assaults, airdrops and simple cargo plane transfers, which can move ground forces and supplies. Air power is a function of the degree of air superiority and numbers or types of aircraft, but it represents a situation that defies black-and-white characterization. The degree of a force's air control is a zero-sum game with its opponent's; increasing control by one corresponds to decreasing control by the other. Air forces unable to contest for air superiority or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military war effort and sacrifice of Britain and British Empire, its Empire during the First World War. The museum's remit has since expanded to include all conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since 1914. As of 2012, the museum aims "to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and 'wartime experience'." Originally housed in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham Hill, the museum opened to the public in 1920. In 1924, the museum moved to space in the Imperial Institute in South Kensington, and finally in 1936, the museum acquired a permanent home that was previously the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Southwark. The outbreak of the Second World War saw the museum expand both its coll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attrition Warfare
Attrition warfare is a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and materiel. The word ''attrition'' comes from the Latin root , meaning "to rub against", similar to the "grinding down" of the opponent's forces in attrition warfare. Strategic considerations Attrition warfare represents an attempt to grind down an opponent's ability to make war by destroying their military resources by any means including guerrilla warfare, people's war, scorched earth and all kind of battles apart from a decisive battle. Attrition warfare does not include all kinds of Blitzkrieg or using concentration of force and a decisive battle to win. The side that reinforces their army at a higher speed will normally win the war. Clausewitz called it the exhaustion of the adversary. A side that perceives itself to be at a marked disadvantage may deliberately seek out attrition warfare t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combat Air Patrol
Combat air patrol (CAP) is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft. A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, for the purpose of intercepting and destroying hostile aircraft before they reach their target. Combat air patrols apply to both overland and overwater operations, protecting other aircraft, fixed and mobile sites on land, or ships at sea. Known by the acronym CAP, it typically entails fighters flying a tactical pattern around or screening a defended target, while looking for incoming attackers. Effective CAP patterns may include aircraft positioned at both high and low altitudes, in order to shorten response times when an attack is detected. Modern CAPs are either GCI or AWACS-controlled to provide maximum early warning for defensive reaction. The first CAPs were characteristic of aircraft carrier operations, where CAPs were flown to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intruder (air Combat)
An intruder is a military aircraft and its crew that is tasked with penetrating deep into enemy air space, to disrupt operations. Intruders are usually fighters, attackers or light bombers. The intruder concept dates from World War II, the first radar-equipped night and all-weather fighters were able to take advantage of the cover provided by night-time and meteorological conditions. Intruder crews attack enemy fighters, airfields, radar and other infrastructure; stage diversionary attacks; and escort bombers. Intruders often loiter in the vicinity of enemy airbases to attack aircraft as they take off or land. The technique was first used in World War II. Starting in July 1940, small numbers of German fast bombers would merge into streams of Royal Air Force bombers returning from night missions over Europe. Once past the Chain Home radars, where they appeared to be returning bombers, they were free to attack RAF air bases. This often took the form of dropping light bomb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Offensive Counter Air
Offensive counter-air (OCA) is a military term for the suppression of an enemy's military air power, primarily through ground attacks targeting enemy air bases: disabling or destroying parked aircraft, runways, fuel facilities, hangars, air traffic control facilities and other aviation infrastructure. Ground munitions like bombs are typically less expensive than more sophisticated air-to-air munitions, and a single ground munition can destroy or disable multiple aircraft in a very short time whereas aircraft already flying must typically be shot down one at a time. Enemy aircraft already flying also represent an imminent threat as they can usually fire back, and therefore destroying them before they can take off minimizes the risk to friendly aircraft. Air-to-air operations conducted by fighter aircraft with the objective of clearing an airspace of enemy fighters known as combat air patrols can also be offensive counter-air missions, but they are seen as a comparatively slow and ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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