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is lower and at a greater range than would be used for air combat. This is helpful because it allows the pilot to aim at a target without having to dive towards the ground as steeply, decreasing the risk of collision with the ground and increasing the amount of firing time available before having to
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around and underneath the cockpit and other vulnerable areas such as engines to protect the pilot and key flight components, while aircraft designed mostly for air combat tend to have most of their armor placed to protect directly ahead or to the rear, where fire from other aircraft is most likely,
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tend to use gimballed weapons which can be fired in many different directions independent of the direction the aircraft is pointing in (in most cases, flexible guns on a fixed wing aircraft are for defense purposes only, although they can sometimes be used to fire on ground targets to limited
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was one of the key
Russian ground attack planes. It had heavy armour around the engine, underside and canopy. It was armed with 20, 23, or 37 mm (0.79, 0.91, or 1.46 in) cannon, depending on the model.
208:). In cases where an aircraft is capable of both types of combat, when it is assigned to a ground attack role, and thus expected to be using the guns mostly for strafing, the fixed weapons are often mounted so that the
68:. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such as fast boats, using smaller-caliber weapons and targeting stationary or slowly-moving targets.
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was used when precision was needed (facing small targets), but non-strafing attack methods (primarily small bombs) were preferred for larger targets, area targets, or when low-altitude flying was too risky.
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was one of the key ground attack planes. It was armed with eight .50 calibre (12.7 mm) machine guns. Another aircraft that was important in that role was the
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for protection of the cockpit and aircraft systems that enables the aircraft to continue flying after taking significant damage. The A-10's official name comes from the
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planes strafed targets deep behind the front line and had a perceptible impact on the progress of the ground war, but the concept of strafing was already in decline.
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with dedicated aircraft including the concept of the heavily protected cockpit or "bathtub" to permit the pilot to survive counterfire from anti-aircraft batteries.
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Because of the low altitude and relatively low airspeed required for accurate strafing, it is very risky for the pilot, who is exposed not only to the risk of
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have used strafing runs to support ground forces in areas where explosive ordnance could cause unacceptable civilian casualties. Strafing runs done by
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were used in the later stages of the war. They also had four 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons, while also being able to carry up to 8 "60 lb"
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318:, which was armored to protect it from ground-based gunfire. The Junkers J.I. had two downward-facing machine guns that were used for strafing.
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The term "strafing" can cover either fixed guns, or aimable (flexible) guns. Fixed guns firing directly ahead tend to be more predominant on
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While the earliest use of military aircraft was for observation and directing of artillery, strafing was frequently practised in
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In 2004, the United States Air Force accidentally strafed one of its own country's middle schools while training in the
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525:, which is the airplane's primary armament and the heaviest such automatic cannon mounted on an aircraft. The A-10's
352:. The Ju 87 G variant had two Rheinmetall-Borsig 37 mm (1.5 in) Flak 18 guns each mounted under the wing.
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leaving them more vulnerable to fire from directly below or to the sides, where much ground fire often comes from.
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302:. Trenches and supply columns were routinely attacked from the air in the second half of the war. Strafing with
467:" had to be used in strafing missions. Gunships like the AC-47 Spooky, AC-119 Specter, and early models of the
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649:"Oxford Dictionaries – Dictionary, Thesaurus, & Grammar – "Gott strafe England" as origin of "to strafe""
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machine-gun crew, footage captured by overhead U.S military-operated reconnaissance drone, Afghanistan.
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is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted
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The German army was the first to introduce a class of aircraft specially designed for strafing, the
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became widespread, strafing temporarily fell out of favor as unnecessarily risky and some
American
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fire and potential damage from exploding targets. Consequently, several types of aircraft-mounted
866:, Biplane fighter aces : The Commonwealth 16 May 1920 – 31 May 1942, surfcity.kund.dalnet.se
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in the early 1970s which is the only United States Air Force aircraft designed solely for
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was designed for survivability, with measures such as 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of
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A-10 Thunderbolt-II 30mm GAU-8 cannon conducting a strafing run against suspected
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strafing — The delivery of automatic weapons fire by aircraft on ground targets.
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gunship proved to be devastating defenders of besieged US Special Forces camps.
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and obstacles such as power lines, but also to anti-aircraft weapons, including
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like the Soviet SPPU-22 allowed for a mechanical depression of their barrels.
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cannon is used for strafing tanks, armored vehicles and other ground targets.
359:. It was armed with four 20 mm (0.79 in) wing-mounted cannon. The
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combat exercise at Nevada Test & Training Ground against hard targets
314:. Planes built specifically for strafing include the German World War I
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pull up, and it also increases the range from the target, helping avoid
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Allied
Strafing in World War II: A Cockpit View of Air to Ground Battle
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fire, the term "strafing" does not specifically include the last two.
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265:). Planes purposely designed for ground attack may include additional
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257:), anti-aircraft artillery and small caliber weapons fire (such as
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382:. It was used for low-altitude strafing runs in the Pacific War.
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strafing
Imperial Japanese Shipping during the Second World War.
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AROUND THE WORLD; Manila
Acknowledges Strafing Japanese Ship
459:) then did not have built-in cannon or machine guns. In the
416:, affecting his possible participation in the 20 July 1944
104:, specifically from the humorous adaptation of the German
837:"Syria conflict: Aleppo districts 'under fresh assault'"
773:"Image: typhoon_IB_rockets_loading2.jpg, (750 × 459 px)"
610:"Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms 8 November"
463:, that was found to be a deficiency, and improvised "
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204:), while others are dedicated ground-attack types (
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619:. U.S. Department of Defense. 2010. Archived from
355:For the RAF, the best ground attack plane was the
490:of ground forces. The A-10 was built to attack
142:from 7.62–14.5 mm (0.300–0.571 in)
19:"Strafe" redirects here. For other uses, see
8:
556:are very risky for the pilot. The cities of
348:The Luftwaffe's best strafing plane was the
818:"Attack helicopters strafe Damascus suburb"
564:were strafed by helicopter gunships in the
478:is an American twin-engine, straight-wing
864:Major Andrew Duncan DFC, SAAF no. 103023V
821:. Reuters/Financial Times. July 2, 2012.
114:(May God punish England), dating back to
498:, and other ground targets with limited
860:, January 19, 1982, The New York Times.
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146:, to 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in)
872:, November 18, 2009, lettersofnote.com
712:William B. Colgan (10 January 2014).
326:These developments continued through
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49:A German vehicle column destroyed by
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200:missions or ground attack missions (
795:"Image: IL-2Bg.jpg, (750 × 345 px)"
677:, July 2007, airforce-magazine.com
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747:"Image: sgun.jpg, (400 × 315 px)"
517:The A-10 was designed around the
26:For the video game maneuver, see
16:Aircraft ground attack using guns
825:from the original on 2022-12-10.
749:. quarryhs.co.uk. Archived from
544:Since 2001, Coalition pilots in
651:. askoxford.com. Archived from
196:, are capable of flying either
192:Some fixed wing aircraft, like
138:Guns used in strafing range in
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521:, a 30 mm (1.2 in)
76:The word is an adaptation of
380:North American B-25 Mitchell
408:strafed the command car of
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502:, often through strafing.
293:Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent
253:(both vehicle mounted and
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535:Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
414:Sainte-Foy-de-Montgommery
376:Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
441:precision-guided weapons
387:Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik
251:surface-to-air missiles
21:Strafe (disambiguation)
886:Aerial warfare tactics
688:"Definition of STRAFE"
617:Joint Publication 1-02
585:Ground-attack aircraft
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312:ground-attack aircraft
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673:Richard B.H. Lewis,
239:A-10C Thunderbolt II
891:Targeting (warfare)
870:Slaughterhouse Five
753:on 11 November 2020
675:The Art of Strafing
626:on 28 February 2017
476:A-10 Thunderbolt II
439:In the 1960s, when
363:and its derivative
357:Hawker Hurricane II
350:Junkers Ju 87 Stuka
337:A Ju 87 G with its
291:, 1916, collection
247:flight-into-terrain
167:fixed wing aircraft
111:Gott strafe England
89:[ˈʃtʁaːfn̩]
57:, 23 September 1944
797:. allworldwars.com
775:. historyofwar.org
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509:A-10's 30 mm
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480:jet aircraft
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402:412 Squadron
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550:Afghanistan
461:Vietnam War
406:Charley Fox
404:piloted by
316:Junkers J.I
300:World War I
279:World War I
184:strafing a
171:helicopters
122:Description
116:World War I
880:Categories
731:19 January
698:2023-10-12
630:19 January
596:References
575:incident.
430:Korean War
263:small arms
198:air-combat
174:effect).
148:autocannon
85:pronounced
371:rockets.
255:hand-held
130:U.S Navy
72:Etymology
53:close to
841:BBC News
823:Archived
579:See also
558:Damascus
527:airframe
465:gunships
398:Spitfire
343:gun pods
341:guns in
219:gun pods
169:, while
62:Strafing
428:In the
424:Postwar
274:History
237:A USAF
156:bombing
140:caliber
108:slogan
81:strafen
39:Taliban
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562:Aleppo
420:coup.
339:BK 3,7
267:armour
188:, 1944
160:rocket
102:punish
100:), to
78:German
55:Arnhem
624:(PDF)
613:(PDF)
554:F-16s
531:armor
492:tanks
803:2015
781:2015
759:2015
733:2011
720:ISBN
661:2015
632:2011
560:and
548:and
546:Iraq
474:The
455:and
395:RCAF
369:RP-3
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