A U.S. Navy A-7E Corsair II bombs the Hai Duong bridge in North Vietnam in 1972.
Air interdiction (AI), also known as deep air support (DAS), is the use of preventive tactical bombing and strafing by combat aircraft against enemy targets that are not an immediate threat, to delay, disrupt or hinder later enemy engagement of friendly forces. It is a core capability of virtually all military air forces, and has been conducted in conflicts since World War I. Aircraft that are used for this purpose are known as interdictors.
A distinction is often made between tactical and strategic air interdiction, depending on the objectives of the operation. Typical objectives in tactical interdiction are meant to affect events rapidly and locally, for example through direct destruction of forces or supplies en route to the active battle area. By contrast, strategic objectives are often broader and more long-term, with fewer direct attacks on enemy fighting capabilities, instead focusing on infrastructure, logistics and other supportive assets.
The term deep air support relates to close air support and denotes the difference between their respective objectives. Close air support, as the name suggests, is directed towards targets close to friendly ground units, as closely coordinated air-strikes, in direct support of active engagement with the enemy. Deep air support or air interdiction is carried out further from the active fighting, based more on strategic planning and less directly coordinated with ground units. Despite being more strategic than close air support, air interdiction should not be confused with strategic bombing, which is unrelated to ground operations.
A 4-ship Vic formation of Pakistani F-86F Sabres returning from an interdiction mission during the 1965 war
Air interdiction can cause the physical destruction or attrition of soldiers and matériel before they can reach the battlefield, sever enemy's lines of communication, prevent soldiers and matériel from reaching the battlefield. It can create systemic inefficiencies in the enemy's logistic system so that soldiers and matériel arrive at the battlefield more slowly or in an uneconomical manner.[1][2][3]
tactical and strategic airinterdiction, depending on the objectives of the operation. Typical objectives in tactical interdiction are meant to affect events...
those forces. A closely related subset of airinterdiction, battlefield airinterdiction, denotes interdiction against units with near-term effects on friendly...
conflict: Air: Airinterdiction or Interdiction bombing Ground: No-drive zone Sea: Maritime interdiction or Blockade The term interdiction is also used...
risk. Present day doctrine holds that Forward Air Controllers (FACs) are not needed for airinterdiction, although there has been such use of FACs in the...
An interdictor is a type of attack aircraft or tactical bomber that operates far behind enemy lines, with the express intent of airinterdiction of the...
objectives as a precondition" (Annex 3–70, Strategic Attack). AirInterdiction is defined as "air operations conducted to divert, disrupt, delay, or destroy...
unparalleled military feat, given it was the site of the single most intense airinterdiction campaign in history. Parts of what became the trail had existed for...
near Borno State in North Eastern Nigeria, after it was conducting an airinterdiction on Boko Haram. At about 5:08 p.m., the jet was reported to have stopped...
Aircraft (MEA). The MEA will perform marine interdiction, limited air-to-airinterdiction, over land interdiction, and enforcement relocation of personnel...
before they do any harm against friendly forces, similar to airinterdiction. Maritime interdiction took place in both World Wars, the First World War and...
primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground forces, as well as a limited airinterdiction capability. The IJAAS also provided aerial...
direct support of the ground operations (as a "flying artillery"). Airinterdiction, by contrast, attacks tactical targets that are distant from or otherwise...
penetrators, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft, which are used in airinterdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment, strategic...
is intended to perform a multitude of missions, including air supremacy, airinterdiction, anti-access/area denial (A2/AD), anti-ship warfare (ASW) and...
Afghanistan. The type's main function was as a platform for airinterdiction and close air support missions; the Harrier II was also used for power projection...
Internet, a proposed air-to-air data network Airborne Interception radar, a Royal Air Force air-to-air system Airinterdiction, an aerial military capability...
2009. "A Review of United States Assistance to Peruvian Counter-Drug AirInterdiction Efforts and the Shootdown of a Civilian Aircraft on April 20, 2001"...
Katangese Air Force was to provide air support for ground troops and airinterdiction. Initial aircraft consisted of five de Havilland Doves, eight North...
exfiltration, air base ground defense, airinterdiction, special reconnaissance, close air support, psychological operations, and helicopter air refuelings...
developing fire support coordination plans to include Close Air Support (CAS), AirInterdiction (AI), Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)...
5th-generation sensors and weapons, and is able to perform air superiority, airinterdiction and close air support missions. The F-35A made its first flight on...
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