Aerial combat

History

Heavier-than-air airplanes first went to war in the Italo-Turkish War in 1911, initially for aerial reconnaissance, and then for aerial combat to shoot down enemy reconnaissance planes. Aircraft continued to carry out these roles during World War I (1914-1918), where the use of planes and zeppelins for strategic bombing also emerged. The rise of fighter aircraft and of air-to-air combat led to a realisation of the desirability of achieving air superiority. Closer integration of attacking aircraft with ground operations ("battlefield support") also developed during World War I.