History of aerial warfare
Ballistic missiles became of key importance during the Cold War, were armed with nuclear warheads, and were stockpiled by the superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union – to deter each other from using them.
Since early history, various cultures developed myths of flying gods and deities, some of whom such as Zeus could throw thunderbolts from on high at earthbound humans.
In the third book of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726), the King of the flying island of Laputa resorts to bombarding enemies and rebellious subjects with heavy rocks thrown from the air.
The prince sat in the center of the ship, and had only to touch a spring in order to make thousands of bullets fly out in all directions, while the guns were at once loaded again".
Later, the Prince develops an improved model, able to also fire "Steel Thunderbolts", and orders many thousands of them built to make up a massive air flotilla manned by his troops.
The earliest documented aerial warfare took place in ancient China, when a manned kite was set off to spy for military intelligence and communication.
Lowe insisted on the strict use of tethered (as opposed to free) flight because of concern about being shot down over enemy lines and punished as spies.
The Declaration Prohibiting the Discharge of Projectiles and Explosives from Balloons Archived 2012-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, part of the 1907 Hague Convention ratified by the United States, Great Britain and China, outlawed aircraft ordnance and aerial bombing.
On November 14, 1910, near Hampton Roads, Virginia, civilian pilot Eugene Ely took off from a wooden platform installed on the scout cruiser USS Birmingham (CL-2).
[19] In the First Balkan War (1912) the Bulgarian Air Force bombed Turkish positions at Adrianople, while the Greek Aviation performed, over the Dardanelles, the first naval/air co-operation mission in history.
[23] In World War I both sides initially made use of tethered balloons and airplanes for observation purposes, both for information gathering and directing of artillery fire.
The increased performance, range, and payload of contemporary aircraft meant that air power could move beyond the novelty applications of World War I, becoming a central striking force for all the combatant nations.
In his book The Command of the Air (1921), Douhet argued future military leaders could avoid falling into bloody World War I–style trench stalemates by using aviation to strike past the enemy's forces directly at their vulnerable civilian populations.
[56][57] In the interwar period, Britain and the United States became the most enthusiastic supporters of the strategic bombing theory, with each nation building specialized heavy bombers specifically for this task.
[86][87] Still, the war against the British and American bombers demanded enormous amounts of resources: antiaircraft guns, day and night fighters, radars, searchlights, manpower, ammunition, and fuel.
As a result, German army groups in Russia, Italy, and France rarely saw friendly aircraft and constantly ran short of tanks, trucks, and anti-tank weapons.
Most airborne troops served as light infantry by the end of the war despite attempts at massed use in the Western Theatre by US and Britain during Operation Market Garden.
The Yamato, the most powerful battleship ever built was first turned back by light escort carrier aircraft, and later sunk due to it lacking its own air cover.
[102]: 174 Turbojet fighter aircraft such as Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars, Republic F-84 Thunderjets and Grumman F9F Panthers came to dominate the skies, overwhelming North Korea's propeller-driven Yakovlev Yak-9s and Lavochkin La-9s.
[113] The specialized AH-1 Cobra[112][114] was developed from the Huey for escort and ground support duties, The later Soviet campaign in Afghanistan would also see widespread use of helicopters as part of the air assault brigades and regiments.
[118] "Fast movers" included the supersonic North American F-100 Super Sabre, while the giant Boeing B-52 Stratofortress would be modified to unload a massive high explosive payload on enemy troop concentrations.
[119][120] USAF Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs flew the bulk of strike missions against North Vietnam in Operation Rolling Thunder, while carrier-based Douglas A-4 Skyhawks (which could "buddy-buddy" refuel) were flown by the Navy.
That first campaign was marred by carefully measured regulations that prohibited attacks against SAM missile sites and fighter bases, and frequent bombing halts, and produced little in political results.
[121][122][123] Rolling Thunder saw the first combat use of electronic computers aboard PIRAZ ships to display comprehensive real-time aircraft position information for force commanders.
North Vietnam effectively combined Soviet and Chinese anti-aircraft artillery, SA-2 guided missiles, and MiG fighters to create the most heavily defended airspace up to that time.
[129] The Yom Kippur War of 1973 saw the Arab deployment of mobile 2K12 Kub (SA-6) missiles which proved effective against low-flying Israeli aircraft until they were neutralized by ground forces.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has noted that sales of combat aircraft can have a destabilizing effect because of their ability to quickly strike neighboring countries, such as during Operation Orchard in 2007 when the Israelis unilaterally attacked Syria.
Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt IIs attacked Iraqi armored forces with Gatling guns and Maverick missiles,[133] supporting the advance of US ground troops.
In the beginning of the 2006 Lebanon War, Israel utilized an intensive aerial campaign aimed to eliminate Hezbollah and destroy its military, as stated by Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.
Additionally, the conflict in Ukraine has seen a rise in a new type of aerial warfare involving small, commercially available civilian drones (generally quadcopters) that have been modified to attack enemy positions such as those in buildings, vehicles, and trenches.
