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Air interdiction (AI) is the use of aircraft to attack tactical ground targets that are not in close proximity to friendly ground forces. It differs from close air support because it does not directly support ground operations and is not closely coordinated with ground units. Unlike strategic bombing, air interdiction is not meant as an independent air campaign; its ultimate purpose is still to allow ground operations rather than to defeat an enemy by air power alone. An Apache attack helicopter provides close air support to United States Army soldiers patrolling the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad, Iraq during the Iraq War. ...
The city heart of Rotterdam after being terror bombed by Germany in 1940, the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that reminds people of Rotterdams medieval architecture. ...
The purpose of AI is to delay, disrupt, or destruct enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area. A distinction is often made between strategic and tactical interdiction. The former refers to operations whose effects are broad and long-term; tactical operations are designed to affect events rapidly and in a localized area.
Background
Air interdiction is a core airpower mission that has been conducted since World War I by virtually all air forces. In that war, the goal was to isolate the battlefield by strafing and bombing enemy supply lines. Favorite targets were railroad lines, bridges, and truck convoys. Due to the primitive state of aircraft and weapons technology, as well as the undeveloped nature of air doctrine and tactics, AI missions in World War I were of limited utility. “The Great War †redirects here. ...
The potential of AI was clearly recognized, however, and during World War II it once again became a major mission of air forces. Although AI operations were conducted in all theaters, the most extensive and thoroughly analyzed were those of the United States and United Kingdom against the Axis. Specifically, the Allies launched major AI efforts in the North African, Italian, and Normandy campaigns. The venues for these three campaigns were markedly different in terms of weather, terrain, the enemy’s supply and transportation infrastructure, and the availability of intelligence regarding the enemy. As a consequence of these differences, the results of AI also varied. The greatest success was in the desert terrain of North Africa, where Axis forces also relied heavily on vulnerable and visible sea convoys across the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian campaign, by contrast, was characterized by mountainous terrain, poor weather conditions, and shortened German supply lines. The diverse results of these two campaigns taught air planners differing lessons. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...
During World War II, the North African Campaign, also known as the Desert War, took place in the North African desert from September 13, 1940 to May 13, 1943. ...
Combatants United States United Kingdom Canada Free France Poland Nazi Germany Commanders Dwight Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (absent) (Heeresgruppe B) Friedrich Dollmann (7. ...
AI has continued to play a major role in conflicts since World War II. It was used extensively in U.S. conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Serbia, as well as in wars between Israel and the Arab states in the Middle East. Once again, differing local conditions and political restraints have had an enormous effect on how AI was conducted and the degree to which it was successful. In Vietnam, for example, the strategic interdiction campaign known as Rolling Thunder (1965–1968) was largely unsuccessful. The dense jungle terrain, poor intelligence on enemy movements, and political restrictions on targets struck made U.S. AI efforts largely futile. The flow of supplies and reinforcements from North Vietnam to their units in South Vietnam was not seriously affected. In contrast, Coalition AI efforts in the Gulf War (1991) were extremely successful in isolating front-line Iraqi units from their bases in the rear. Intelligence, much of it derived from space and airborne sensors, gave an unusually clear picture of enemy locations, and the open desert terrain similarly facilitated AI operations. Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea Australia Belgium Canada Colombia Ethiopia France Greece Luxembourg Netherlands New Zealand Philippines South Africa Thailand Turkey United Kingdom United States Medical staff: Denmark Italy Norway Sweden Communist: Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Peoples Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Chung...
Combatants NATO (USAF, RAF, and other air, maritime and land forces) Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and allied Serb paramilitary and foreign volunteer forces[1] Commanders Wesley Clark (SACEUR), Javier Solana (Secretary General of NATO) Slobodan Milošević (Supreme Commander of the Yugoslav Army), Vojislav Šešelj, Dragoljub Ojdanić (Chief of...
Combatants United States Republic of Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam Commanders Joseph H. Moore, William W. Momyer, George S. Brown Phung The Tai (Air Defense), Nguyen Van Tien (Air Force) Casualties United States: ~835 killed, captured, or missing VNAF: Unknown ~20,000 military, ~72,000 civilian Operation Rolling Thunder was...
Lessons learned When assessing AI efforts during the 20th century, it is possible to identify several factors that will have an impact on success. - First, air superiority is essential for AI because it permits a more thorough identification and attack of enemy forces and supplies while also exposing the attacking aircraft to less risk.
- Second, intelligence regarding enemy dispositions, movements, stockpiles, and intentions is crucial. In the North African campaign during World War II, for example, Ultra intelligence sources gave the Allies a clear picture of Axis shipping in the Mediterranean. In contrast, in Vietnam the United States had a very poor understanding of Vietcong and North Vietnamese activities.
- Third, weather and terrain will have a major impact on AI’s success or failure. One factor included here is the ability to conduct AI at night or in marginal weather; conditions that assist the clandestine movement of forces and supplies.
- Fourth, AI operations must be persistent. If an enemy is allowed a respite, it will resupply and stockpile, making the AI effort ineffective.
- Fifth, air planners must have realistic objectives. It is virtually impossible to totally isolate the battle area. Something will always get through, and that amount may be enough to sustain the enemy. For example, even if 95 percent of all supplies to Axis forces in Italy during World War II had been stopped, there would still have been enough materiel getting through for Axis forces to conduct effective defensive operations.
- The sixth factor is related and is perhaps the most important: there is a symbiotic relationship between air and surface forces in a successful AI campaign. An enemy that is quiescent and stationary consumes few resources while also presenting few targets. If, by contrast, enemy forces are attacked and flushed from their defensive positions by friendly surface forces, they will consume far more resources, especially fuel and ammunition, while also exposing themselves to air attack.
Air superiority is the dominance in the air power of one side air forces of another side during a military campaign. ...
Ultra (sometimes capitalized ULTRA) was the name used by the British for intelligence resulting from decryption of German communications in World War II. The term eventually became the standard designation in both Britain and the United States for all intelligence from high-level cryptanalytic sources. ...
Examples of air interdiction campaigns The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, or Jug as it was known, was one of the main US Army Air Force (USAAF) fighters of World War II. The P-47 was a big, rugged, overbuilt aircraft that was effective in air combat but proved particularly useful as a fighter-bomber. ...
The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between the German forces occupying Western Europe and the invading Allies. ...
oooo lalala The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia. ...
Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000...
Combatants United States Republic of Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam Commanders John W. Vogt, Jr. ...
Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 ~545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also Persian...
See also Tactical bombing uses aircraft to attack troops and military equipment in the battle zone. ...
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External links - Air Interdiction, by Clifford Krieger. Aerospace Power Journal, Spring 1989.
- DOD dictionary definition of air interdiction.
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