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Gunships
A gunship is a military aircraft armed with aircraft artillery, heavy aircraft guns, primarily intended for attacking ground targets either as airstrike or as close air support. In modern usage the term "gunship" refers to fixed-wing aircraft having :wikt:lateral, laterally-mounted heavy armaments (i.e. firing to the side) to attack ground or sea targets. These gunships are configured to circle the target instead of performing strafing runs. Such aircraft have their armament on one side harmonized to fire at the apex of an imaginary cone formed by the aircraft and the ground when performing a pylon turn (Banked turn#Aviation, banking turn). The term "gunship" originated in the mid-19th century as a synonym for gunboat and also referred to the heavily armed ironclad steamships used during the American Civil War. The term helicopter gunship is commonly used to describe armed helicopters. World War II aviation Bomber escort During 1942 and 1943, the lack of a usable escort fight ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pylon Turn
A pylon turn is a flight maneuver in which an aircraft banks into a circular turn, in such a way that an imaginary line projecting straight out the side of the aircraft (nominally the wing) points to a fixed point on the ground. The maneuver originated early in the 20th century in air racing. In some contexts, simply making a turn around a fixed point on the ground (such as a physical pylon) is called a "pylon turn". In these cases, the altitude may be incorrect for the maneuver to be a proper "pylon turn" where all three parameters (altitude, speed, bank angle) come together for the wing to point to the fixed turning center on the ground. Racing The pylon turn was originally used in air racing, where courses were set up with pylons to mark a location on the ground, and the planes would have to turn around at that point before returning to the airstrip. Pylons are also used in triples to set up a triangular circuit for aviation races—races in which all competitors must stay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strafing
Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such as fast boats, using smaller-caliber weapons and targeting stationary or slowly-moving targets. Etymology The word is an adaptation of German ''strafen'', to punish, specifically from the humorous adaptation of the German anti-British slogan ''Gott strafe England'' (May God punish England), dating back to World War I. Description Guns used in strafing range in caliber from machine guns, to autocannon or rotary cannon. Although ground attack using automatic weapons fire is very often accompanied with bombing or rocket fire, the term "strafing" does not specifically include the last two. The term "strafing" can cover either fixed guns, or aimable (flexible) guns. Fixed guns firing directly ahead tend to be more predominant on fixed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1941–1945). It was created on 20 June 1941 as successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and is the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force, today one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which on 2 March 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the United States Army Services of Supply (which in 1943 became the Army Service Forces), and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Army Chief of Staff. The AAF administered all parts of military aviation formerly distributed am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
75 Mm Gun M2/M3/M6 (the 75, or, French 75)
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75 may refer to: * 75 (number) * one of the years 75 BC, AD 75, 1875 CE, 1975 CE, 2075 CE * ''75'' (album), an album by Joe Zawinul * M75 (other), including "Model 75" * Highway 75, see List of highways numbered 75 *Alfa Romeo 75, a car produced by Alfa Romeo See also * * * * 1975 (other) * 1875 (other) * Canon de 75 modèle 1897 The French 75 mm field gun was a quick-firing field artillery piece adopted in March 1898. Its official French designation was: Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897. It was commonly known as the French 75, simply the 75 and Soixante-Quinze (French ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North American B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in every theater of World War II, and after the war ended, many remained in service, operating across four decades. Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 B-25s were built. These included several limited models such as the F-10 reconnaissance aircraft, the AT-24 crew trainers, and the United States Marine Corps' PBJ-1 patrol bomber. Design and development The Air Corps issued a specification for a medium bomber in March 1939 that was capable of carrying a payload of over at North American Aviation used its NA-40B design to develop the NA-62, which competed for the medium bomber contract. No YB-25 was available for prototype service tests. In September 1939, the Air Corps ordered the NA-62 into production as the B-25, along with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attack Aircraft
An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pressing the attack.Mortensen 1987, pp. 24–25. This class of aircraft is designed mostly for close air support and naval air-to-surface missions, overlapping the tactical bomber mission. Designs dedicated to non-naval roles are often known as ground-attack aircraft.Gunston 2009, p. 73. Fighter aircraft often carry out the attack role, although they would not be considered attack aircraft ''per se'', although fighter-bomber conversions of those same aircraft would be considered part of the class. Strike fighters, which have effectively replaced the fighter-bomber and light bomber concepts, also differ little from the broad concept of an attack aircraft. The dedicated attack aircraft as a separate class existed primarily during and after Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strategic Bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematically organized and executed attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy's war-making capability. The term terror bombing is used to describe the strategic bombing of civilian targets without military value, in the hope of damaging an enemy's morale. One of the strategies of war is to demoralize the enemy so that peace or surrender becomes preferable to continuing the conflict. Strategic bombing has been used to this end. The phrase "terror bombing" entered the English lexicon towards the end of World War II and many strategic bombing campaigns and individual raids have been described as terror bombing by commen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heavy Bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the largest and most powerful military aircraft at any point in time. In the second half of the 20th century, heavy bombers were largely superseded by strategic bombers, which were often smaller in size, but had much longer ranges and were capable of delivering nuclear bombs. Because of advances in aircraft design and engineering — especially in powerplants and aerodynamics — the size of payloads carried by heavy bombers has increased at rates greater than increases in the size of their airframes. The largest bombers of World War I, the four engine aircraft built by the Sikorsky company in the Soviet Union, could carry a payload of up to of bombs. By the middle of World War II even a single-engine fighter-bomber could carry a bomb load, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consolidated XB-41 Liberator
The Consolidated XB-41 Liberator was a single Consolidated B-24D Liberator bomber, serial ''41-11822'', which was modified for the long-range escort role for U.S. Eighth Air Force bombing missions over Europe during World War II. Design and development When the USAAF started strategic bombing in Europe there were no fighters available to escort the bombers all the way to distant targets. The bombers carried several defensive guns and formed up in boxes so that they could provide mutually covering fire but there was interest in providing more firepower for the formation. The XB-41 Liberator was outfitted with 14 .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns. This was achieved by adding a second dorsal turret and a remotely operated Bendix turret (of the same type as fitted to the YB-40) under the chin to the standard twin gun tail turret and twin gun retractable ventral ball turret, plus twin mount guns at each waist window.Davis 1987, p.24. The port waist mount was originally covered by a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress
The Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress was a modification for operational testing purposes of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber aircraft, converted to act as a heavily armed Gunship#Bomber escort, gunship to support other bombers during World War II. At the time of its development, long-range fighter aircraft such as the North American P-51 Mustang were just entering quantity production, and thus were not yet available to accompany bombers all the way from England to Germany and back. Design and development Work on the prototype, Project V-139, began in September 1942 by converting the second production B-17F-1-BO (serial number 41-24341) built. Conversion work was done by Lockheed's Vega company. The aircraft differed from the standard B-17 in that a second manned Gun turret#Aircraft, dorsal turret was installed in the former radio compartment, just behind the bomb bay and forward of the ventral ball turret's location. The single .50-caliber light-barrel (12.7 mm) M2 Browning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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