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An 'airstrike' is a military strike by air forces on either a suspected or a confirmed enemy ground position, which depending on the selected tactics may or may not be followed up by artillery, armor, or infantry units. Airstrikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as bombers, ground attack aircraft, or strike fighters. Weapons used in an airstrike can range from machine gun bullets, to missiles, and to various types of bombs such as nuclear bombs. They are often used in strategic bombing.

Contents

"Broken Arrow"

Collateral damage

Peacetime use

See also

References

"Broken Arrow"

The United States code for calling in all available aircraft for an airstrike was "Broken Arrow", and was used during the movie ''We Were Soldiers'', depicting the battle at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley during the Vietnam War.

Collateral damage

In an airstrike, there is a high risk of injuring, killing or destroying non-combatants, allies or non-military buildings (this is called collateral damage).^[1]
In January of 2006, a MQ-1 Predator UCAV was called in by the CIA for an airstrike against Al Qaeda's second in command at the time, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The target location was the Pakistani village of Damadola. al-Zawahiri was not killed in the Damadola airstrike (let alone actually believed to be in the village by Pakistani officials). The Predator's two Hellfire Missiles, instead, killed upwards of 18 Pakistanis, including four or five other terrorists, including possibly Midhat Mursi.^[2][3]

Peacetime use

Bombing by aircraft is sometimes used in peacetime to break ice dams that form in big rivers, to prevent disastrous flooding.

See also

★ Aerial bombing of cities

★ Aerial warfare

★ Time On Target

References

1. Air Force Law Review, Wntr, 2005, by Jefferson D. Reynolds
2. Airstrike By U.S. Draws Protests From Pakistanis, ''N.Y. Times'', January 15, 2006
3. Pakistan: At least 4 terrorists killed in U.S. strike, ''USA Today'', January 17, 2006