Airstrike
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An air strike[1] is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others. The official definition includes all sorts of targets, including enemy air targets, but in popular use the term is usually narrowed to tactical (small-scale) attack on a ground or naval objective. Weapons used in an airstrike can range from machine gun bullets, missiles, to various types of bombs.
In close air support, air strikes are usually controlled by trained observers for coordination with friendly ground troops in a manner derived from artillery tactics.
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[edit] History
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On November 1, 1911, Italian aviator Second Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti dropped four bombs on two Turkish-held oases in Libya, carrying out the world's first air strike as part of the Italo-Turkish War.[2]
Use of air strikes become extended in World War I. For example at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915 the British Royal Flying Corps dropped bombs on German rail communications.
[edit] Collateral damage
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In any air strike, there is a risk of injuring, killing, or destroying non-combatants, allies or non-military buildings. This is called collateral damage.[3]
Collateral damage can be advantageous by damaging nearby enemy troops and installations. The negative side effects to collateral damage may include the infliction of damage to civilian facilities and accidental injury of friendly troops near the target.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ air strike- DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms
- ^ U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: Aviation at the Start of the First World War
- ^ "Air Force Law Review". Jefferson D. Reynolds. Winter, 2005. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m6007/is_56/ai_n14700122/pg_16.
