For military aviation forces and equipment, see Military aviation. For strategic theory on the use of air forces, see Airpower.
"Air combat" redirects here. For the 1995 PlayStation game that sparked the Ace Combat series, see Air Combat. For the 1993 arcade game, see Air Combat (arcade game).
"Air war" redirects here. For the Crystal Castles song, see Air War.
A United States Air Force F-4 Phantom II releasing aerial bombs over a bombing range in Bardenas Reales, Spain in 1986
Part of a series on
War Outline
History
Prehistoric
Ancient
Post-classical
castles
Early modern
pike and shot
napoleonic
Late modern
industrial
fourth-gen
Military
Organization
Command and control
Defense ministry
Army
Navy
Air force
Marines
Coast guard
Space force
Reserves
Regular / Irregular
Ranks
Specialties:
Staff
Engineers
Intelligence
Reconnaissance
Medical
Military police
Land units:
Infantry
Armor
Cavalry
Artillery
Special forces
Signal corps
Naval units:
Warships
Submarines
Aircraft carriers
Landing craft
Auxiliary ships
Air units:
Fighters
Bombers
Command
Close air support
Electronic-warfare
Reconnaissance
Combat systems:
Fire-control system
Fire-control radar
Director (military)
Combat information center
Sonar
Radar
Historical:
Ship gun fire-control
Gun data computer
Torpedo data computer
Development:
Basic training
Military manoeuvrers
Combat training
Battlespace
Aerospace
Air
Airborne
Space
Land
Cold-region
Desert
Jungle
Mountain
Urban
Subterranean
Tunnel
Sea
Amphibious
Blue
Brown
Green
Surface
Underwater
Cyber
Information
Weapons
Air defence
Armor
Artillery
Barrage
Biological
Camouflage
Cavalry
Horses
Air cavalry
Chemical
Combined arms
Conventional
Cyber
Denial
Disinformation
Drone / Robot
Electromagnetic
Infantry
Loitering
Missile
Music
Nuclear
Psychological
Radiological
Unconventional
Tactics
List of military tactics
Aerial
Airlift
Air assault
Airbridge
Airdrop
Battle
Cavalry
Charge
Counterattack
Counterinsurgency
Defeat in detail
Foxhole
Drone
Envelopment
Guerrilla
Morale
Naval
Rapid dominance
Siege
Swarm
Screen
Tactical objective
Target saturation
Trench
Withdrawal
Operational
Military operation
Operations research
Blitzkrieg
Expeditionary
Deep operation
Maneuver
Operational manoeuvre group
Raid
Strategy
List of military strategies and concepts
Military campaign
Attrition
Commerce raiding
Counter-offensive
Culminating
Defence in depth
Fabian
Empty fort
Mosaic
Deception
Defensive
Depth
Goal
Nuclear
Naval
Offensive
Scorched earth
Grand strategy
Asymmetric
Blockade
Broken-backed
Class
Cold war
Colonial
Conquest
Containment
Divide and conquer
Economic
Endemic
Fleet in being
Irregular
Liberation
Limited
Network-centric
New generation
Perpetual
Political
Princely
Proxy
Religious
Resource
Strategic
Succession
Technology
Theater
Total war
World war
Administrative
Branch
Policy
Staff
Training
Service
Sociology
Organization
Area of responsibility
Chain of command
Command and control
Doctrine
Principles of war
Economy of force
Medicine
Engineers
Intelligence
Ranks
Technology and equipment
Personnel
Recruitment
counter
Conscription
Training
Specialism
Women
Children
Transgender
harassment
Conscientious objector
Volunteer
foreign
Mercenary
Logistics
History
Military–industrial complex
Arms industry
Materiel
Supply-chain management
Base
MOB
FOB
Outpost
Science
Power projection
Loss-of-strength gradient
Lanchester's laws
Force multiplication
Law
Court-martial
Geneva Conventions
Geneva Protocol
Islamic rules
Justice
Perfidy
Jewish laws on war
Right of conquest
Rules of engagement
Martial law
War crime
Theory
Air supremacy
Appeasement
Command of the sea
Deterrence theory
Full-spectrum dominance
Overmatch
Unrestricted Warfare
Just war theory
Principles of war
Philosophy of war
Security dilemma
Tripwire force
War games
Non-warfare
Arms control
Counter-insurgency
deterrence
Disaster response
Grey-zone
Gunboat diplomacy
Humanitarian aid
Law enforcement
Low-intensity conflict
Military engineering
Multilateralism
Peacekeeping
Peacebuilding
Peace through strength
Show of force
Culture
Awards and decorations
Warrior caste
War film
Military science fiction
War novel
Anti-war movement
Foot drill
War song
Uniform
Wargame
Related
Women in war
War resister
War studies
Horses in warfare
Wartime sexual violence
Fifth column
Lists
Battles
Military occupations
Military terms
Operations
Sieges
War crimes
Wars
Weapons
Writers
v
t
e
Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare. Aerial warfare includes bombers attacking enemy installations or a concentration of enemy troops or strategic targets; fighter aircraft battling for control of airspace; attack aircraft engaging in close air support against ground targets; naval aviation flying against sea and nearby land targets; gliders, helicopters and other aircraft to carry airborne forces such as paratroopers; aerial refueling tankers to extend operation time or range; and military transport aircraft to move cargo and personnel.[1]
Historically, military aircraft have included lighter-than-air balloons carrying artillery observers; lighter-than-air airships for bombing cities; various sorts of reconnaissance, surveillance, and early warning aircraft carrying observers, cameras, and radar equipment; torpedo bombers to attack enemy vessels; and military air-sea rescue aircraft for saving downed airmen. Modern aerial warfare includes missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. Surface forces are likely to respond to enemy air activity with anti-aircraft warfare.
^See John Andreas Olsen, ed., A History of Air Warfare (2010) for global coverage since 1900.
history of aerialwarfare began in ancient times, with the use of kites in China. In the third century, it progressed to balloon warfare. Airplanes were...
Drone warfare is a form of aerialwarfare or marine warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles...
Aerialwarfare in the Russian invasion of Ukraine began at dawn of 24 February 2022, with infantry divisions and armored and air support in Eastern Ukraine...
September, the air attacks began with an intensity not yet seen in aerialwarfare. The two German air corps carried out 1,004 sorties on the first day...
of earlier technology. Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare. Aerialwarfare includes bombers attacking enemy...
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance...
primarily conducts aerialwarfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerialwarfare as distinct from...
operational areas of naval warfare, the others being surface warfare, aerialwarfare, and information warfare. Underwater warfare includes: Actions by submarines...
warfare, aerialwarfare, and information warfare. Surface warfare is the oldest and most basic form of naval warfare, though modern surface warfare doctrine...
fictional WWI aviator Biplane Dogfight Flying ace § World War I History of aerialwarfare History of aviation List of American aero squadrons List of Royal Air...
The aerialwarfare in the Winter War was the aerial aspect of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940...
forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerialwarfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of command of the sea. Air power has increasingly...
and refraining from attacks on protected persons. These restraints on aerialwarfare are covered by the general laws of war, because unlike war on land and...
military sources promote as decreasing civilian deaths. Aerial bombing of cities Aerialwarfare Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Strategic bombing...
official aerialwarfare branch of the Armed Forces of Gabon. In the early 1960s, following the country's independence from the French Republic, aerial detachments...
and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerialwarfare, including national airlift (air cargo) capacity to provide logistical...
The Luftwaffe (German pronunciation: [ˈlʊftvafə] ) was the aerial-warfare branch of the Wehrmacht before and during World War II. Germany's military air...
Force, the branch of the Armed Forces of the Sweden that specializes in aerialwarfare. It covers active equipment, such as aircraft and ordnance. Sweden portal...
human death tolls starting from before World War II. Aerial bombardment and international law Aerial bombing of cities Casualty recording Roerich Pact Duga...
Retrieved 21 June 2015. Peltonen, Martti (1999). "Ilmasota talvisodassa" [AerialWarfare in the Winter Wari]. Talvisodan pikkujättiläinen (in Finnish). Petrov...
The Tongan Air Wing is the aerialwarfare arm of His Majesty's Armed Forces of Tonga. The Air Wing supports the surveillance of the exclusive economic...
damage while ignoring all other circumstances. However, in some types of warfare, such as a battle for air superiority, confrontation of armoured forces...
'air weapon or air arm', German pronunciation: [ˈlʊftvafə] ) is the aerialwarfare branch of the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of Germany. The German Air...
الجوية اللبنانية, romanized: Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Lubnaniyya) is the aerialwarfare branch of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The seal of the air force is a...