Air assault
Part of a series on |
War |
---|
Air assault is the movement of ground-based
The United States Army field manual FM 1-02 (FM 101-5-1) describes an "air assault operation" as an operation in which assault forces (combat, combat support, and combat service support), using the firepower, mobility, and total integration of helicopter assets, maneuver on the battlefield under the control of the ground or air maneuver commander to engage and destroy enemy forces or to seize and hold key terrain usually behind enemy lines.[3]
Due to the transport load restrictions of helicopters, air assault forces are usually
Air assault should not be confused with air attack,
Organization and employment
Air assault and air mobility are related concepts. However, air assault is distinctly a combat insertion rather than transportation to an area in the vicinity of combat.
Air assault units can vary in organization; using helicopters not only in transport but also as close air fire support, medical evacuation helicopters and resupply missions. Airmobile artillery is often assigned to air assault deployments. Units vary in size, but are typically company to brigade sized units.
Airmobile units are designed and trained for air insertion and vertical envelopment ("a maneuver in which troops, either air-dropped or air-landed, attack the rear and flanks of a force, in effect cutting off or encircling the force",[5] air resupply, and if necessary air extraction.
One specific type of air assault unit is the US Army
History
Air mobility has been a key concept in offensive operations since the 1930s. Initial approaches to air mobility focused on parachutists and the use of
In 1943 the Germans conducted the Gran Sasso raid which implemented many aspects of the air assault concept. Another example was the German Brandenburgers' glider borne operation at Ypenburg during World War Two.[10]
In 1946,
American forces later used helicopters for support and transport to great effect during the Korean War showing that the helicopter could be a versatile and powerful military tool.[13]
First helicopter air assaults
The first helicopter airlift and helicopter sling load mission was conducted on September 13, 1951, during the
On November 5, 1956, the
The plan was to use the helicopters to drop No. 45 Commando at Raswa, to the south of Port Said, in order to secure two vital bridges. Last-minute concerns about their vulnerability to ground fire meant that they were replaced in this role by French paratroops who conducted a daring low-level drop on 5 November, securing one of the two bridges intact. Instead No. 45 Commando was landed the following day, disembarking close to the seafront in the aftermath of the seaborne landing that had secured the area. This first-ever operational use of helicopters to land troops during an amphibious assault proved successful. With their carriers lying nine miles offshore, the marines were landed far more quickly than could have been achieved using landing craft, and without the need to get their boots wet. However ... they landed the marines in much the same place that old style landing craft would have put them.[16]
In 1956, the United States Marine Corps executed the first Division-strength exercise of vertical envelopment when the 1st Marine Division was helicopter-lifted from converted WWII jeep carriers to landing sites at Camp Pendleton, CA, U.S. Marine Corps Base. One of the ships utilized for this exercise was the USS Thetis Bay. This exercise was the culmination of the Marines' developing strategy of vertical envelopment rather than amphibious assaults on heavily defended beaches. The maneuvers were well-covered by the media of the time, including LIFE Magazine. The Marine Corps subsequently adopted this method as standard operating procedure after proving that helicopters could be used to transport very large numbers of troops and large amounts of supplies in a timely fashion.[citation needed]
Operation Deep Water was a 1957 NATO naval exercise held in the Mediterranean Sea that involved the first units of the United States Marine Corps to participate in a helicopter-borne vertical envelopment operation during an overseas deployment.
During the Vietnam war the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division conducted the first large scale air assault operation in combat during the Battle of Ia Drang.[17]
Algerian War
The use of armed helicopters coupled with helicopter transport during the Algerian War for the French Army to drop troops into enemy territory gave birth to the tactics of airmobile warfare that continues today.[18]
The machines of the
From 1955 to 1962, GH 2 took part in the major battles, which occurred near the frontier between Algeria and Tunisia, including the battle of Souk-Ahras in April 1958. The helicopters, including types such as the H-21, the Alouette II, the Sikorsky H-19 and Sikorsky H-34, together aggregated over 190,000 flying hours in Algeria (over 87,000 for the H-21 alone) and helped to evacuate over 20,000 French combatants from the combat area, including nearly 2,200 at night. By the time the war in Algeria had ended, eight officers and 23 non-commissioned officers from ALAT had died in the course of their duties.
Vietnam War
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2023) |
U.S. Marine helicopter squadrons began four-month rotations through Vietnam as part of Operation SHUFLY on 15 April 1962. Six days later, they performed the first helicopter assault using U.S. Marine helicopters and ARVN troops. After April 1963, as losses began to mount, U.S. Army UH-1 Huey gunships escorted the Marine transports. The VC again used effective counter landing techniques and in Operation Sure Wind 202 on 27 April 1964, 17 of 21 helicopters were hit and three shot down.
The
The need for a new type of unit became apparent to the Tactical Mobility Requirements Board (normally referred to as the
Initially a new experimental unit was formed at
The first unit of the new division to see major combat was the 1st Battalion,
This battalion (vice "squadron," which would have been its nomenclature had it actually been a cavalry organization) gave common currency, albeit incorrectly, to the U.S. term "Air Cavalry." However, 1-7 Cav was in actuality an infantry formation carrying a "Cavalry" designation purely for purposes of lineage and heraldry. (True air cavalry organizations are/were helicopter-mounted reconnaissance units.) Light infantry-centric organizations (battalions, brigades, or divisions) that are trained, organized, and equipped to operate with organic (i.e., owned by the joint parent headquarters of both the light infantry organization and the supporting aviation organization) are classified as "Air Assault," previously designated as "Airmobile."
The Vietnam-era 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) was not an "air cavalry" division, per se, although it did contain air cavalry squadrons. The division was a new concept that probably was more akin to a modern version of "mounted rifles," owing to its helicopter "mounts," and, as did 1-7 Cav discussed above, carried the "Cavalry" designation primarily for purposes of lineage and heraldry, and not because of its then current mission or organizational structure.
On a practical level, virtually any light infantry formation can instantly become "airmobile" simply by dividing the assault elements into "chalks" (aircraft load designations pertaining to order of loading and type of aircraft), embarking them on the aircraft, transporting them to the objective/assembly area, and inserting/disembarking them into a landing zone, etc. However, true "air assault" organizations are specialized light infantry (much like airborne troops), who are trained, organized, and equipped specifically to perform the complex, rapid, and dynamic tasks inherent in air assault vice simply being transported by aircraft. Perhaps a rough comparison can be made between "motorized" and "mechanized" infantry. Any light infantry unit can be transported by truck (viz., "motorized"), however, "mechanized" infantry are specifically trained, organized, and equipped to conduct operations in close-coordination with tanks.
Southern African wars
The armed forces of
The airmobile warfare tactics used by Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa had many similar characteristics. The air forces of the three countries also used the same types of helicopters (mainly
Portuguese, Rhodesian and South African airmobile tactics often involved air assaults done by small units of special forces or light infantry, transported in four or five Alouette III helicopters. Assaults were often supported by an Alouette III armed with a side-mounted 20 mm MG 151 autocannon. This helicopter was nicknamed Helicanhão (heli-cannon) by the Portuguese and K-Car by the Rhodesians. Variants of the air mobile warfare tactics used in Africa included the Rhodesian Fireforce and the Portuguese heliborne-horseborne forces cooperation.[23][24][25]
Bangladesh Liberation War (1971)
Meghna Heli Bridge was an aerial
Post Cold War
In the United States Army, the air assault mission is the primary role of the
In addition, all U.S. Marine Corps divisions are capable of, and routinely train for and perform, air assault operations. Forward-deployed Marine Corps infantry battalions/regiments (reinforced, organized, and designated as Battalion Landing Teams/Regimental Combat Teams, or BLTs and RCTs, respectively), form the Ground Combat Element (GCE) of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), or Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB). These MEUs and MEBs are capable of embarking aboard amphibious warships and include air assault as one of several means of conducting amphibious landing operations, supported by embarked Marine Corps tilt-rotor, helicopter, and STOVL fixed-wing strike aircraft.[27][28][29]
The 10th Mountain Division Light Infantry has a limited capability to perform air assault operations. On September 19, 1994, the 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division conducted the Army's first air assault from an aircraft carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, as part of Operation Uphold Democracy.[30] This force consisted of 54 helicopters and almost 2,000 soldiers. This was the Army's largest operation from an aircraft carrier since the Doolittle Raid of World War II
The
Britain's 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines are also highly experienced in air assault, both for boarding ships and in land attacks, see article above.
Russo-Ukrainian War
The
A simultaneous air assault was attempted at Vasylkiv, where VDV paratroopers attempted to seize the Vasylkiv Air Base but the attack was repelled.[33]
List of air assault forces/units
- 601 Assault Helicopter Battalion
- División de aviación asalto aéreo (DAVAA)[34]
- Brigada de aviación 25
- Brigada no. 32 de aviación ejercito
- Brigada contra el narcotrafico
- Brigada de fuerzas especiales
- Batallon de operaciones especiales de aviación
- 4th Airmobile Brigade
- 11th Parachute Brigade
- Germany Rapid Forces Division
- Germany Air Assault Brigade 1
- 11 Luchtmobiele Brigade[Combined with the helicopters of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, they form the 11 Air Manoeuvre Brigade (11 AMB)]
- Nedsamarines
- Sepah Quds
- Friuli Air Assault Brigade
- Folgore Parachute Brigade
- Raider Infantry Battalions
- Paskhas
- Rapid Reaction Brigade
- 495th Paratrooper Battalion "Căpitan Ștefan Soverth"[35]
- 76th Guards Air Assault Division
- 44 Parachute Regiment(1999 to present)
- 6 South African Infantry Battalion
- One brigade under each combined corps
- ROC Army Aviation and Special Forces Command (陸軍航空特戰指揮部)
- Special Operations Command (特戰指揮部 )
- 1st Special Operations Battalion "Might" (特戰第一營 "威")
- 2nd Special Operations Battalion "Dare" (特戰第二營 "敢")
- 3rd Special Operations Battalion "Firm" (特戰第三營 "剛")
- 4th Special Operations Battalion "Fierce" (特戰第四營 "猛")
- 5th Special Operations Battalion "Strong" (特戰第五營 "強")
- 601st Aviation Brigade (航空六〇一旅)
- 602nd Aviation Brigade (航空六〇二旅)
- Aviation Training Command (飛行訓練指揮部) - 603rd Aviation Brigade (航空六〇三旅)
- Special Operations Command (特戰指揮部 )
- Air Mobile Brigade[dubious ]
- Sri Lanka Commando Regiment
- 1st Special Forces Division
- Royal Thai Navy SEALs
- RTMC Reconnaissance Battalion
- RTAF Special Operations Regiment
- Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
- 95th Airmobile Brigade
- 79th Airmobile Brigade
- 80th Airmobile Regiment
- 28th Training Battalion
- 16 Air Assault Brigade
- 3 Commando Brigade
- 101st Airborne Division
- 1st Brigade Combat Team
- 2nd Brigade Combat Team
- 3rd Brigade Combat Team
See also
- Airborne forces
- Battleplan (documentary TV series)
- Battle of Signal Hill
- Operation Delaware
- Paratroopers
- United States Army Air Assault School
- Company E, 52nd Infantry (LRP) (United States)
References
- ^ "Air Assault Operations". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
- ^ a b Russ & Susan Bryant P.63
- ^ "Army - FM1 02 - Operational Terms and Graphics | PDF | Artillery | Airborne Forces".
- ^ Swan, Robin P.; McMichael, Scott R. (January–February 2007). "A Giant Leap Forward in Maneuver and Sustainment" (PDF). Military Review.
- ^ Vertical Envelopment, encyclopedia.com, Retrieved 2009-12-03. Quotes "The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military").
- ^ 16 Air Assault Brigade Archived 2011-03-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Air Assault Training" (PDF). Warrior Training Center. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ Ailsby P.18,19,91
- ^ pp.49–51 Boyne, Walter J. How the Helicopter Changed Modern Warfare Pelican Publishing, 2011
- ^ Ailsby P.91
- United States Marine Corps History and Museums Division. p. 20.
- ^ Rawlins, Marines and Helicopters 1946–1962, p. 35
- ^ Helicopters at War Archived 2010-04-14 at the Wayback Machine – US Centennial of Flight Commission
- ^ Brown, Ronald J. (2003). Whirlybirds – US Marine Helicopters in Korea (PDF). U.S. Marine Corps Historical Center. p. 46.
- ^ "3 Commando Brigade". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013.
- ^ Tim Benbow, British Naval Aviation: The First 100 Years, Ashgate Publishing, 2011, p. 161
- ^ ISBN 1-4165-6295-8.
- ^ helicopters during the war in Algeria, Military History
- ^ Freedman, Lawrence Kennedy's Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam Oxford University Press: Oxford (2000) pp. 334–35.
- ^ Krepinevich, Andrew F. The Army and Vietnam. Johns Hopkins Press: Baltimore (1986) pp. 121–22.
- ^ Krepinevich, Andrew F. The Army and Vietnam Johns Hopkins Press: Baltimore (1986) p.124.
- ^ Stockfisch, J. A. The 1962 Howze board and Army Combat Developments Rand Corporation: Santa Monica, C.A. (1994) pp9-10. Online at https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/2007/MR435.pdf
- ^ "Fireforce Operations". selousscouts.tripod.com.
- ^ ABBOTT, Peter, VOLSTAD, Ronald, "Modern African Wars (2) – Angola and Mozambique 1961–74", Osprey Publishing, 1988
- ^ CANN, Jonh P., "Counterinsurgency in Africa: The Portuguese Way of War, 1961–1974", Hailer Publishing, 2005
- ^ a b Russ & Susan Bryant P.8
- ^ Marine Corps Operations, MCDP 1 Retrieved 26 November 2017
- ^ Expeditionary Operations MCDP 3 5-12D Retrieved 26 November 2017
- ^ Organization of the United States Marine Corps MCRP Retrieved 26 November 2017
- ^ USS Dwight D Eisenhower History
- ^ "Эксперт объяснил значение киевского аэродрома Гостомель для спецоперации". www.mk.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-12-24.
- ^ Doucet, Lyse (25 February 2022). "Ukraine conflict: Kyiv braces for Russian assault". BBC News. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
On Friday afternoon, Russia's defence ministry announced it had captured the Antonov airport, using 200 helicopters and a landing force in order to take the base to the north of Kyiv from Ukraine. Western intelligence officials warned earlier that Russia was building an "overwhelming force" to take control of the city.
- ^ Roblin, Sebastien (2022-02-27). "At Vasylkiv, Ukrainians Repel Russia's Paratroopers and Commandos in Frantic Night Battle". 19FortyFive. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- ^ "Aviación del Ejército y Fuerza Aérea Colombiana realizan entrenamiento conjunto".
- ^ "Desantare de parașutiști din elicoptere în Babadag. Transport de tehnică și luptători cu elicoptere". armed.mapn.ro (in Romanian). 14 June 2021.
- ^ "Guards". Ministry of Defence (Singapore). 6 July 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
Sources
- Arthur, Max, There Shall Be Wings, Hodder and Stoughton, 1994, ISBN 0-340-60386-0
- Scales, Robert H. & Scales Jr., Robert H., Certain Victory: The U.S. Army in the Gulf War, Brassey's, 1994
- Ailsby, Christopher (2000). Hitler's Sky Warriors: German Paratroopers in Action, 1939–1945. Staplehurst, UK: Spellmount Limited. ISBN 1-86227-109-7.
- Screaming Eagles 101st Airborne Division by Russ & Susan Bryant
Further reading
- Burns, Richard R. Pathfinder: First In, Last Out. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002. ISBN 0804116024
External links
- A 1989 Department of Defense news archive about Task Force Hawk air assault training, Panama.
- The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-20A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- Vietnam Studies: Airmobility 1961–1971 by Lieutenant General John J. Tolson, 1989 Archived 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine