What does ground attack aircraft mean?

Definitions for ground attack aircraft
ground attack air·craft

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word ground attack aircraft.

Wikipedia

  1. ground attack aircraft

    An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pressing the attack. This class of aircraft is designed mostly for close air support and naval air-to-surface missions, overlapping the tactical bomber mission. Designs dedicated to non-naval roles are often known as ground-attack aircraft.Fighter aircraft often carry out the attack role, although they would not be considered attack aircraft per se, fighter-bomber conversions of those same aircraft would be considered part of the class. Strike fighters, which have effectively replaced the fighter-bomber and light bomber concepts, also differ little from the broad concept of an attack aircraft. The dedicated attack aircraft as a separate class existed primarily during and after World War II. The precise implementation varied from country to country, and was handled by a wide variety of designs. In the United States and Britain, attack aircraft were generally light bombers or medium bombers, sometimes carrying heavier forward-firing weapons like the North American B-25G Mitchell and de Havilland Mosquito Tsetse. In Germany and the USSR, where they were known as Schlachtflugzeug ("battle aircraft") or sturmovik ("storm trooper") respectively, this role was carried out by purpose-designed and heavily armored aircraft such as the Henschel Hs 129 and Ilyushin Il-2. The Germans and Soviets also used light bombers in this role: cannon-armed versions of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka greatly outnumbered the Hs 129, while the Petlyakov Pe-2 was used for this role in spite of not being specifically designed for it. In the latter part of World War II the fighter-bomber began to take over many attack roles, a transition that continued in the post-war era. Jet-powered examples were relatively rare but not unknown, such as the Blackburn Buccaneer. The U.S. Navy continued to introduce new aircraft in their A-series, but these were mostly similar to light and medium bombers. The need for a separate attack aircraft category was greatly diminished by the introduction of precision-guided munitions which allowed almost any aircraft to carry out this role while remaining safe at high altitude. Attack helicopters also have overtaken many remaining roles that could only be carried out at lower altitudes. Since the 1960s, only two dedicated attack aircraft designs have been widely introduced, the American Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II and the Soviet/Russian Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot. A variety of light attack aircraft has also been introduced in the post-World War II era, usually based on adapted trainers or other light fixed-wing aircraft. These have been used in counter-insurgency operations.

Wikidata

  1. Ground attack aircraft

    An attack aircraft is tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of attacking targets on the ground or sea, with greater precision than bombers, and which is prepared to encounter stronger low-level air defenses. This class of aircraft is designed mostly for close air support and naval air-to-surface missions, but they are also employed in other missions, for example air interdiction or offensive counter air. In contrast to fighter aircraft, attack aircraft are not necessarily intended for air-to-air combat. However, they are often equipped with air-to-air missiles for self-defense. Until the precision-guided munitions became standard in 1960s, the term "attack aircraft" implied a heavily armored aircraft armed with both bombs and with forward-firing automatic weapon—the former were more powerful, but the latter enabled strafing attacks of a much higher precision. In particular, the Russian Shturmovik and German Schlachtflugzeug terms may be seen in the literature. Also many fighter-bombers of the era fell into this category naturally, if sufficiently armored. One subclass of attack aircraft is ground-attack aircraft intended for air-to-ground use, and not for naval use. Currently, attack helicopters dominate the field of aircraft types built specifically for a ground-attack role. Few fixed-wing designs are currently employed, as air forces tend to assign the task to the ubiquitous multirole combat aircraft. Notable exceptions include the American A-10 Thunderbolt II and the Russian Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of ground attack aircraft in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of ground attack aircraft in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

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"ground attack aircraft." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/ground+attack+aircraft>.

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