aerial combat
Fighting in flight
Aerial combat is fighting between aircraft in flight—dogfights between fighter planes, engagements between helicopters, or any military confrontation in the air.
The term covers both historical propeller-driven battles and modern jet warfare: The pilot had logged dozens of hours of aerial combat over the Pacific.
Extended to video games and simulations that replicate such fighting.
- dogfightClose combat between aircraft
- Immelmann turnAerobatic direction-reversing climb
- pilotOne who steers aircraft
- air superiorityControl of the sky
- Red BaronGerman WWI flying ace
ace · aircraft · squadron · Operation Desert Storm · Battle of Britain · military aviation · tally-ho · sortie · missiles · afterburner · dive · engage · kill shot · guns · radar · eject · going down in flames · pursuit
- aviationaircraft, airports, flying, flight, airplane
- warfarebattle, attack, war, armed conflict, military strategy
- flight gamesflight simulator, flight simulators, Microsoft Flight Simulator, cockpit view, dogfights
- martial arts filmskung fu, karate, ninja, samurai, wuxia
- combatbattle, fight, grappling, defend, striking
- air patrolpatrol, routine patrol, coastal patrol, night patrol, fighter jets
aerial combatground combat
Fighting on terrain
naval combat · sea battle · trench warfare · hand-to-hand combat · submarine warfare
aerial combatdiplomatic negotiation
Official discussion between nations
peace talks · ceasefire · armistice · cyber warfare · economic warfare
aerial combataerial reconnaissance
Gathering intelligence from aircraft
air transport · medevac · humanitarian airlift · search and rescue · aerial refueling