A ground-attack aircraft is an aircraft that is designed to operate in direct support of ground forces such as infantry, tanks and other fighting vehicles. Their use is therefore tactical rather than strategic, operating at the front of the battle rather than against targets deeper in the enemy's rear. Airbus A380 An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, or other means. ...

A number of names have or are used for ground-attack aircraft: attack aircraft, fighter-bomber, tactical fighter, tank-buster, tactical bomber, etc. During the Second World War, German forces coined the phrase Jabo short for Jagdbomber (Ger. "hunting bomber"). Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ...

In US service ground-attack aircraft have been identified by the prefix A- as in "A-6". British designations have included FB for fighter-bomber and more recently "G" for Ground as in "Harrier GR1" The prefix A-, in US military aviation, refers to a type of plane generally considered an attack plane. ...

History

In the First World War Dedicated "trench fighters" such as the Sopwith Camel TF.1 and the Boeing GA-1 were experimented with but not taken up. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... A Sopwith Camel at the Imperial War Museum in London. ...

The development of the ground-attack aircraft came with the Second World War, mostly through the adaptation of fighters or light bombers. The earliest use of aircraft can be seen in the German Junkers Ju-87 'Stuka' dive-bomber which could be used alongside the rapidly advancing Panzer units during the opening stages of the war in the place of artillery which was not able to advance as rapidly. An A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-86 Sabre, P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang fly in formation during an air show at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. ... A light bomber is a military bomber aircraft which, when compared to other bombers, is relatively small and fast; such aircraft will probably not carry more than one ton of ordnance. ... Junkers Ju 87 Dive-Bombers The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was the best known Sturzkampfflugzeug (German dive bomber) in World War II, instantly recognisable by its inverted gull wings, fixed undercarriage and siren. ... A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy. ...

Ground attack aircraft generally used extra armour and particular weapons for attacking ground targets. While machine guns and cannon were sufficient against infantry and light vehicles, and one or two small bombs could be easily fitted to most fighters, for operations against tanks heavier weapons such as the 40 mm Vickers S gun or high explosive rockets (such as the RP-3 60 lb rocket) were needed. The former equipped the Hawker Hurricane to good effect in North Africa Campaign, the latter was used by many RAF aircraft among them the Hawker Typhoon, an aircraft design which proved less effective than expected as a fighter at altitude but an effective ground attack aircraft and was used extensively in Normandy in 1944. The Vickers Class S was a 40 mm gun used to arm British aircraft for attacking ground targets in the Second World War. ... The RP-3 (for Rocket Projectile 3), was a British air to ground rocket used in the Second World War. ... The Hawker Hurricane is a fighter design from the 1930s which was used extensively by the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain. ... The battle in the North African desert during World War II from 1940-1943. ... The Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter aircraft, produced by Hawker Aviation starting in 1941. ... Mont Saint Michel, one of the famous symbols of Normandy. ...

The Eastern Front turned up another successful ground attack aircraft, the Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik, which Stalin credited with winning the war. The Luftwaffe also fielded a successor to the Stuka in the ground-attack role (although not a dive bomber), the Henschel Hs 129, but produced very few of them and they had little effect on the war. Eastern Front may refer to one of the following. ... The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik (Russian: ) was a ground attack aircraft of World War II, and was produced by the Soviet Union in huge numbers; in combination with its successor, the Il-10, a total of 36,163 were built. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვი&#4314... The Deutsche Luftwaffe or (German: air force, literally Air Arm or Air Weapon, IPA: [luftvafÉ™]) is the commonly used term for the German air force. ... The Henschel Hs 129, often referred to by its nickname, the Panzerknacker, (tank cracker), was a World War II ground attack aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe. ...

By the end of that war the average day fighter was more than capable enough to carry out the ground attack role, and some of the most successful designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and the unmodified Hawker Typhoon. A day fighter is a fighter aircraft equipped only to fight during the day. ... The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was a single-seater, single-engine fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe, and one of the best fighters of its generation. ...

Post World War II

In the immediate post war era the piston engined ground attack aircraft remained useful - Royal Navy Hawker Sea Fury fighters and the US Douglas A-1 Skyraider operatedin the Korea with the latter plane effective into the Vietnam conflict. The long loiter times of the piston powered planes gave an advantage over thirsty jet planes. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Hawker Sea Furies in Canadian Navy livery. ... The Douglas AD (later A-1) Skyraider was a U.S. single-seat attack bomber of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. ... Combatants Western Allied/UN combatants: Republic of Korea United States Britain Communist combatants: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Jeong Il-Gwon Douglas MacArthur Mark W. Clark Matthew Ridgway Kim Il-sung, Choi Yong-kun Peng Dehuai Strength Note: All...

In most of the post-World War II era air forces have been increasingly reluctant to develop combat aircraft specifically for ground attack. Although close air support and interdiction remain crucial to the modern battlefield, attack aircraft are less glamorous than fighters, and both pilots and military planners have a certain well-cultivated contempt for 'mud-movers.' More practically, the extra cost of a dedicated ground attack aircraft is harder to justify as opposed to having multi-role aircraft. Examples of modern ground attack aircraft include the Blackburn Buccaneer, A-6 Intruder, A-7 Corsair II, Panavia Tornado IDS, Sukhoi Su-7, and Sukhoi Su-17. Ground attack has otherwise become the domain of converted trainers like the BAC Strikemaster, BAE Hawk, and Cessna A-37. This article is becoming very long. ... The Blackburn Buccaneer was a British attack aircraft serving with the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm. ... The Grumman A-6 Intruder is a twin-engine, mid-wing attack aircraft manufactured by Northrop Grumman Aerospace Corporation. ... A-7 Corsair II The Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II was a light attack aircraft based on the F-8 Crusader. ... Luftwaffe Tornado IDS at Radom Air Show 2005 Tornado GR.4 taking off at the Farnborough Air Show, 2006. ... Su-7BKL The Sukhoi Su-7 (NATO designation Fitter) was a swept wing, turbojet-powered fighter-bomber used by the Soviet Union and its allies. ... Polish decomissioned Su-20 Front view of Su-20 Polish Su-22 Two aircraft share the designation Su-17 The Sukhoi Su-17 (NATO reporting name Fitter) was a Soviet attack aircraft developed from the Su-7 fighter-bomber. ... The BAC 167 Strikemaster was a light jet-powered attack aircraft. ... The BAE Hawk is an advanced jet trainer which first flew in 1974 as the Hawker-Siddeley Hawk. ... T-37s in formation One of the most prominent of the trainer-attack type aircraft is the Cessna T-37/A-37, known in various forms as the Tweety Bird, Tweet, Dragonfly, or Super Tweet. ...

Production of new Republic F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bombers ended in 1964. The aircraft was built especially for a supersonic radar evading low altitude attack profile, thereafter lofting a nuclear weapon from an internal bomb bay, thereby allowing escape from the detonation. The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, commonly known as the Thud by its crews, was a single-seat supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. ...

The design of this "fighter" was vastly different from that of an air superiority fighter. It was very heavy, with a small air-penetrating wing, fitted with both existent air-to-air refueling systems, exceptional fuel capacity, capable of supersonic flight at tree-top level, possessed of self-contained inertial navigation computers, powerful radar for all weather ground target locating; all-in-all designed to threaten Russian strategic targets, whatever the weather. Since one flight only was planned, it was built "soft" with little resistance to battle damage. For reasons never explained, it possessed a complex radar assisted lead-computing visual gunsight, and a built-in rotary 20mm cannon with a large magazine.

Soon, the US Air Force found that it was the only aircraft capable of long range precision dive bomber attack of heavily defended North Vietnamese targets. The built-in computer and gun sight made all the necessary calculations for 45 degree dive bombing attacks. Dive brakes stabilized 500 knot dive from 20,000 ft, releasing at about 10,000 with a high "G" supersonic pull out at about 5,000 ft (clear of small arms fire). Accuracy with a sequenced "spread" of five one-thousand pound bombs was sufficient to destroy a bridge (very tough target). In melee, F-105s shot down 20 MiG fighters by surprise. A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy. ...

In the late 1960s the US Air Force requested a dedicated air support plane that became the Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. It eventually became a primarily anti-armor weapon with limited capability in the interdiction and tactical bombing role, and even in the anti-tank role it was met with mixed feelings. However, the A-10's performance during Operation Desert Storm negated these criticisms. Current US doctrine increasingly emphasizes the use of US Army helicopters for close air support and anti-tank missions. The Soviets' similar Su-25 Frogfoot found greater success in the flying artillery role, although it, too, shifted to anti-armor use in later versions and has largely been phased out in favor of 'fast mover' fighter-bomber versions of the MiG-29 and Su-27. The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerospace branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. ... Primary user United States Air Force Number built 715 Unit cost US$9. ... 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... The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Mil (Russian Federation) Mi-8, one of the most common model of military helicopter in the world with more than 12 thousand units built, sixfold quantity comparing to production of the second most common model UH-1 Iroquois. ... Su-25 of the Russian Air Force The Su-25 (NATO reporting name Frogfoot) is a battlefield attack, close air support, and anti-tank aircraft designed by the Soviet Union. ... A 155 mm artillery shell fired by a United States 11th Marine regiment M-198 howitzer Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... The Mikoyan MiG-29 (NATO reporting name Fulcrum) is a Russian fighter aircraft used in the air superiority role. ... The Sukhoi Su-27 (NATO reporting name Flanker) is a Russian fighter aircraft designed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau (SDB). ...

Nevertheless, the role remains well-defined and in use, resulting in dual designations like F/A-18 Hornet. More recently, the term strike fighter has been gaining currency as the way to refer to these dual-role aircraft. Ironically, in British parlance "strike" was for some years a euphemism for the nuclear warfare attack role, with "attack" used to denote conventional (non-nuclear) missions. The Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas) F/A-18 Hornet is a modern all-weather carrier strike fighter jet, designed to attack both ground and aerial targets. ... A strike fighter is a fighter aircraft which is also capable of attacking surface targets, including ships. ... The Titan II ICBM carried a 9 Mt W53 warhead, making it one of the most powerful nuclear weapons fielded by the United States during the Cold War. ...

Recent History

U.S. experience in the Gulf War [1], Afghanistan, in the Iraq War, as well as the U.S. experience intervening militarily in Kosovo, has resulted in renewed interest in fixed-wing ground-attack aircraft. Combatants UN Coalition Republic of Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf Saddam Hussein Strength 660,000 545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The Gulf War (1990–1991) (also called the First Gulf War, Persian Gulf War, or Operation Desert Storm) was a... Combatants Baathist Iraq Baath Loyalists Al-Qaeda in Iraq Mahdi Army Other insurgent groups and militias United States United Kingdom New Iraqi Army Kurdish forces Multinational forces in Iraq Commanders Saddam Hussein Abu Musab al-Zarqawi† Moqtada al-Sadr Abu Ayyub al-Masri Mujahideen Shura Council Tommy Franks... For other uses of the name Kosovo, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ...

Under the Key West Agreement which governs the allocation of aircraft between the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force, fixed-wing ground-attack aircraft were generally allocated to the Air Force, while attack helicopters were generally allocated to the Army. The Army, wishing to have its own resources to support its troops in combat and faced with a lack of Air Force enthusiasm for the ground-attack role, developed the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter for ground-attack roles such as destroying enemy tanks and supporting troops in combat. The Key West Agreement is the colloquial name for a policy paper entitled Functions of the Armed Forces and the Joint Chiefs of Staff drafted by James V. Forrestal, the first United States Secretary of Defense. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Seal of the Air Force. ... The AH-64 Apache is the United States Armys principal attack helicopter, the successor to the AH-1 Cobra. ...

One concern involving the Apache arose when a unit of these helicopters were very slow to deploy during U.S. military involvement in Kosovo. The Apache, which is the main alternative for the same airborne anti-tank role in the U.S. military as the A-10, ended up performing more poorly than anticipated, while the A-10 performed well in anti-tank roles in the Gulf War and in Iraq. Indeed, in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, a unit of AH-64's Apaches was severely mauled by the Republican Guard division, Hamburabi.

According to the Army Times [2], the Army is shifting its doctrine to favor ground-attack aircraft over attack helicopters for this role because ground-attack helicopters have proved to be highly vulnerable to small-arms fire. The U.S. Marines have noted similar problems.[3]

Officially, the U.S. Air Force planned to replace the only dedicated ground-attack aircraft currently in U.S. service, the A-10, with its new "Joint Strike Fighter", the F-35 Lightning II. But, facing political concerns that the new fighters were not designed for the ground-attack role that had proven particular useful in Iraq [4]and Afghanistan [5] [6], a plan to decommission the A-10 has been replaced with a plan to upgrade the existing aircraft with improved electronics [7] extending the service life of the planes until as late as 2028. The U.S. Air Force has not commissioned any new designs for this role (in part, out of concern for the F-35 program). The F-35 Lightning II — previously known as the X-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) during its development — is a single-seat, single-engined military strike fighter, a multi-role aircraft that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air-to-air combat. ...

The UK is replacing its current ground attack aircraft with the F-35 (replacing the Harriers), and the Eurofighter Typhoon (Jaguars and Tornado GRs) The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multi-role canard-delta strike fighter aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers, Eurofighter GmbH, formed in 1983. ... The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French ground attack aircraft in service with the Royal Air Force and several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force. ... Luftwaffe Tornado IDS at Radom Air Show 2005 Tornado GR.4 taking off at the Farnborough Air Show, 2006. ...

The other major complication to planes of military forces to purchase new ground-attack aircraft is uncertainty over the degree to which manned fixed wing aircraft may be replaced by unmanned combat drones in this role, a possibility illustrated by the armed Predator drone which has been used in this capacity. Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle flies on a simulated Navy aerial reconnaissance flight off southern California in December 1995. ...