Air force
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An Air force is a military or armed service that primarily conducts aerial warfare. It typically consists of a combination of fighters, bombers, helicopters, transport planes and other aircraft. Many air forces are also responsible for operations of military space, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), and communications equipment. Some air forces may command and control other air-defense assets such as antiaircraft artillery, surface-to-air missiles, or anti-ballistic missile warning networks and defensive systems.
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[edit] Organization
Most, but not all, armed forces have air forces that are independent - that is, it is neither part of the army nor the navy. This however does not stop armies and especially navies from possessing air arms to support their land or sea operations, although some, such as the Canadian Air Force operate all military aircraft, even when they are attached to Canadian Army units.
Air Forces typically operate numerous types of aircraft. These may include
- Fighters, used to destroy other aircraft;
- Bombers and Attack Aircraft, used to attack ground targets;
- Reconnaissance Aircraft;
- Electronic Warfare Aircraft;
- Airborne Early Warning Aircraft;
- Maritime Patrol Aircraft;
- Transport Aircraft;
- Tankers which provide aerial in-flight refuelling for other aircraft;
- Helicopters, used for attack, rescue or transport;
- and Training Aircraft.
Air forces also operate numerous types of satellites. These satellites provide services such as:
- Secure and unsecure communications
- Position, navigation and timing
- Missile warning
- Weather data
- Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
Some air forces such as the British Royal Air Force (RAF) have a unique rank structure loosely based on naval ranks; other air forces such as the United States Air Force (USAF) have a rank structure on the Enlisted side that is unique, but the Officer corps uses Army-style rank. Finally, there are air forces such as Soviet Air Force that use Army-style ranks for both Enlisted and Officer corps. Most (but not all) wear blue-grey uniforms ('air force', as opposed to 'navy', blue), a practice pioneered by the Royal Air Force. The organization structures of the air forces also vary: some air forces (such as the USAF and RAF) are divided into commands, groups and squadrons; others (such as the Soviet Air Force) have an Army-syle organizational structure.
Pilots make up only a small portion of an air force's personnel. For every pilot, there is a flight crew who supports the aircraft, a maintenance group, communications crew, satellite operators, administrative personnel, and medical personnel; in some air forces, there are officers responsible for strategic nuclear weapons such as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Although the majority of the senior leadership of most air forces are pilots, the majority of the personnel are not. Some air forces operate anti-aircraft artillery (now with radars and missiles), and a few air forces have their own paratroopers, or ground defence personnel charged with defending Air Bases, their supply lines and surrounding areas from hostile ground forces, such as the British RAF Regiment or the French Air Fusiliers. Some Air Forces also include their own Special Forces, which may include aircrews and aircraft tasked with special missions such as surveillance or insertion operations, or ground-based personnel such as the American Air Force Commandos, who provide support to Air Force or Special Forces operations by performing functions such as pilot rescue and forward air control. Given the pilots' special status, they often wear special insignia in the form of a vol or "wings". Other air crews might wear variations of such insignia.
[edit] History
Main article: Aerial warfare
The first aviation force in the world was the Aviation Militaire of the French Army formed in 1910, which eventually became L'Armée de l'Air. (Balloonist army detachments of previous centuries, notably the French and American ones, do not really count.) During World War I France, Germany, Italy and the British Empire all possessed significant aviation forces of bombers and fighters, the latter produced numerous flying aces.
The first independent air force in the world, however, is The Finnish Air Force, founded on 6 March 1918. [1] The Royal Air Force (United Kingdom) came into existence on April 1, 1918
After the war, Germany had been banned by the Versailles Treaty from having an air force, but the Luftwaffe was brought into existence in 1935. Italy's Regia Aeronautica became an independent force back in 1923, while France's L'Armée de l'Air gained independence only in the mid-1930s. The Soviet Air Force had been more or less autonomous since 1924, while the United States Army Air Corps gained semi-independent status only with the creation of the United States Army Air Force in 1941, a few months before Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The air force's role of strategic bombing against enemy infrastructures was developed during the 1930s by the Japanese in China and by the Germans during the Spanish Civil War. This role for the bomber was perfected during World War II, when "Thousand Bomber Raids" were not uncommon. The need to intercept these bombers, both on day and at night, accelerated fighter aircraft developments. The war ended when Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers dropped two atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945.
The United States Air Force finally became an independent service in 1947. As the Cold War began, both the USAF and the Soviet Air Force built up their nuclear-capable strategic bomber forces. Several technological advances were widely introduced during this time: the jet engine; the missile; the helicopter; and in-flight re-fuelling.
Communist China has also developed a large air force (which, contrary to popular belief, is in fact quite independent from the ground force), initially with aid from the Soviet Union, and later on its own. Both the US and the USSR supplied numerous aircrafts to their satellite states.
During the 1960s, Canada took the unusual step of merging the Royal Canadian Air Force with the army and the navy to form the unified Canadian Forces, with a green uniform for everyone. This proved very unpopular, and recently the air force (and the navy) have re-adopted their distinct identities (although structurally they remained a unified force). Perhaps the latest air force to become "independent" is the Irish Air Corps, which changed its uniform from army green to blue in the 1990s.
