airborne assault
Attack from above
An airborne assault is a military operation in which troops are delivered to a combat zone by aircraft—typically by parachute drop or helicopter insertion.
The term emphasizes rapid deployment behind enemy lines or into contested territory: The airborne assault on the bridge began at dawn.
Distinguished from amphibious assaults, which arrive by sea.
- paratroopersSoldiers who parachute in
- static lineAnchored deployment cable
- D-Day invasionAllied Normandy beach assault
- behind enemy linesWithin adversary's controlled area
- loadmastersAircraft freight coordinators
wheels up · pathfinders · transport aircraft · rotorcraft · jumpmasters · green light · anti-aircraft defenses · 82nd Airborne · pilots · combat medics · parachutes · close air support · drop zone · night vision goggles · fast rope · landing zone · rappelling
- D-DayD-Day, Normandy, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, Gold Beach
- Airborne Forcesparatrooper, airborne, parachute drop, drop zone, static line
- Balkans WWIIYugoslavia, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania
- military operationsoffensive, attack, marines, Desert Storm, NATO operations
- military tacticstactics, flanking, maneuver, ambush, battle formations
- Special Opsspecial forces, special operations, black ops, covert ops, Navy SEALs
airborne assaultground assault
Attack by foot soldiers
ground offensive · land invasion · armored assault · amphibious assault · cavalry charge
airborne assaultdefensive position
Fortified spot for resistance
entrenchment · withdrawal · retreat · tactical retreat · holding action
borne, assault, airs, airship, airman, airway, airline, aeration, aerial