Counter-insurgency aircraft
Encyclopedia
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
or small-calibre rockets.
Roles
Air power can play an important role in counter-insurgencyCounter-insurgency
A counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
, capable of carrying out a wide range of operations:
- Transportation in support of combatants and civilians alike, including casualty evacuations;
- Intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance;
- Psychological operations, through leaflet drops, loudspeakers, and radio broadcasts;
- Air-to-ground attack against 'soft' targets.
For an aircraft - whether fixed-wing and helicopter - to successfully carry out all these roles, it should have such qualities as low loitering speed, long endurance, simplicity in maintenance, and the capability to make short (or vertical) take-offs and landings from rough front-line airstrips.
History
The first use of counter-insurgency aircraft was in the 1920s and 1930s in colonial warfare, in places like EthiopiaEthiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. The benefits offered by even a single aircraft in tasks such as reconnaissance or strafing small groups were immeasurable. As the British found in Iraq in the 1920s and in some encounters in the frontier in Pashtunistan
Pashtunistan
Pakhtunistan or Pashtunistan, meaning the "land of Pakhtuns" or "land of Pashtuns", is a modern term used for the historical region inhabited by the native Afghans or Pashtun since at least the 1st millennium BC...
, aircraft stripped away many of the advantages that traditional insurgents had enjoyed. It also offered a way of inflicting direct and cost-effective retaliation on the communities that supported the insurgents.
By the late 1950s, the French air operations in the Algerian War was decidedly counter-insurgent in nature, with helicopters such as the Piasecki H-21 being used not only to carry troops, but also machine guns and rocket launchers on an ad-hoc basis, to reach FLN
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
guerilla positions on otherwise inaccessible mountain ridges and peaks.
As late as the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
counter-insurgency missions were flown by existing aeroplanes and helicopters hastily adapted for the role, most notably the Douglas A-1 Skyraider
A-1 Skyraider
The Douglas A-1 Skyraider was an American single-seat attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s. It became a piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed "Spad", after a French World War I fighter...
. Later, more specialized counter-insurgency (or COIN) aircraft began to appear, such as:
- Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light AircraftAdvanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft|-See also:...
(South Africa) - Britten-Norman DefenderBritten-Norman Defender|-External links:*...
(UK) - BAC Strikemaster (UK)
- Cessna A-37 DragonflyA-37 DragonflyThe Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, or Super Tweet, is a United States light attack aircraft developed from the T-37 Tweet basic trainer in the 1960s and 1970s...
(USA) - Cessna O-2 SkymasterO-2 SkymasterThe O-2 Skymaster is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster utilized as an observation and forward air control aircraft...
(USA) - Embraer EMB 314 Super TucanoEmbraer EMB 314 Super TucanoThe Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, also named ALX or A-29 is a turboprop aircraft designed for light attack, counter insurgency and pilot training missions, incorporating modern avionics and weapons systems. It is currently in service with the air forces of Brazil, Dominican Republic and Colombia,...
(BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
) - FMA IA 58 PucaráFMA IA 58 PucaráThe FMA IA 58 Pucará is an Argentine ground-attack and counter-insurgency aircraft. It is a low-wing two-turboprop-engined all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, manufactured by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones.-Development:...
(ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
) - Rockwell OV-10 BroncoOV-10 BroncoThe North American Aviation Rockwell OV-10 Bronco is a turboprop light attack and observation aircraft. It was developed in the 1960s as a special aircraft for counter-insurgency combat, and one of its primary missions was as a forward air control aircraft...
(USA) - Soko J-20 KragujSoko J-20 Kraguj|-See also:-References:* Taylor,John W.R. . Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969-70. London: Sampson Low,1969.-External links:* *...
(Yugoslavia) - US Aircraft A-67 (USA)
- TAI HürkuşTAI Hürkuş-External links:*...
(Turkey)