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attack aircraft
Sign in to saveAlso known as strike aircraft, attack bomber, ground attack aircraft, ground attack airplane, airstrike aircraft
aircraft intended to attack ground targets
~27 min read
Encyclopedic overview
A USAF A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft in flight
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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “attack aircraft” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.