Offensive counter air

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Offensive counter-air (OCA) is a military term for the suppression of an enemy's

hangars, air traffic control facilities and other aviation infrastructure
. Ground munitions like bombs are typically less expensive than more sophisticated air-to-air munitions, and a single ground munition can destroy or disable multiple aircraft in a very short time whereas aircraft already flying must typically be shot down one at a time. Enemy aircraft already flying also represent an imminent threat as they can usually fire back, and therefore destroying them before they can take off minimizes the risk to friendly aircraft.

Air-to-air operations conducted by

anti-aircraft artillery
but also through defensive combat air patrols.

History

Offensive counter-air strikes have been used since World War I.[2] The Teishin Shudan and Giretsu Kuteitai carried out two OCA raids in the Pacific theatre against B29s. In one measure the most successful single OCA mission to date was Operation Focus, the Israeli offensive that opened the Six-Day War of 1967, when the Heyl Ha'avir destroyed a large portion of the air power of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, mostly on the ground, totaling roughly 600 airframes destroyed by a force of 200 aircraft. However, in sheer number of planes destroyed, the opening two weeks of Operation Barbarossa saw some 3-4,000 Russian planes destroyed in total. Other successful attacks include US counter-air operations in Korea in 1950 and 1953, French and British attacks during the Suez Crisis and many others.[2] However, there have also been notable failures like Operation Chengiz Khan initiated by Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and Iraqi attacks on Iran.[2]

Although OCA missions are often carried out via air strikes, they are not limited to aerial action. The

Taliban raid in Afghanistan destroyed eight AV-8B Harriers
.

The Swedish Air Force developed and used the Bas 60 and Bas 90 air base systems as a defensive measure against offensive counter air operations during the Cold War.[3][4][5][6]

Weapons used

During the 1950s, the Cold War strategy of both

BLU-107 Durandal anti-runway bomb. Various such weapons continue to be fielded, notably the Hunting JP233 munition used by RAF Panavia Tornado aircraft during the 1991 Gulf War
.

References

  1. ISBN 9781428992269
    . Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  2. ^ a b c "VII - Mutual Vulnerability: Counter Air Operations". fas.org. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  3. ^ Rystedt, Jörgen (October 1, 2005). "Flygbassystem 60" (PDF).
  4. ^ Rystedt, Jörgen (April 25, 2009). "Flygbassystem 90" (PDF).
  5. ^ Törnell, Bernt (February 5, 2007). "Svenska militära flygbaser" (PDF).
  6. ^ Andersson, Lennart (November 23, 2006). "Svenska reservvägbaser" (PDF).
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