Interdictor

[1] Interdiction prevents or delays enemy forces and supplies from reaching the battlefront; the term has generally fallen from use.

Desiring a more modern aircraft for this role, development of the BAC TSR-2 (from "Tactical Strike and Reconnaissance, Mach 2") began, but this program was later cancelled.

The failure of the TSR-2 and a desire by other European nations for a similar design led to the Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) program, although operating over shorter ranges in the European theatre which was realised as the Panavia Tornado Interdictor/Strike (IDS).

In order to safely traverse a heavily defended front line, they flew at very low altitudes (in some cases having to pull up to clear power lines) to use terrain masking to protect them from enemy radar-guided weapons.

Flying at low altitude also demands much greater fuel use, and thus interdictor aircraft were generally fairly large.