Airlift

Airlift is the transport of personnel and cargo by aircraft, especially to places difficult to reach by land or sea. It can sustain isolated communities, support military operations, or deliver emergency aid.

Military transport aircraft: Aircraft designed or adapted to carry troops, vehicles, and supplies for military forces. Their payload, range, and ability to use short or rough runways shape airlift capacity.
Berlin Airlift: The 1948–1949 operation that supplied West Berlin by air during the Soviet blockade of land routes. It demonstrated that sustained air transport could keep a large city supplied under blockade.
Strategic airlift: Long-range air transport that moves forces and supplies between distant theaters of operation. It connects national bases and distant operational areas across oceans or continents.
Sealift: The transport of people and cargo by sea, especially using ships for long-distance logistics. Sealift usually carries much more cargo per trip but depends on navigable waterways and ports.
Airdrop: The delivery of personnel or cargo from an aircraft in flight, usually by parachute or free fall. It can deliver supplies when aircraft cannot land near the destination.
Hump airlift: The Allied air transport operation over the Himalayas between India and China during World War II. Its dangerous mountain routes illustrate the limits crews faced when land routes were unavailable.
Tactical airlift: Air transport within or near an operational theater, often using austere airfields or airdrops. It moves personnel and supplies closer to where forces need them.
Rail transport: The movement of passengers or freight on trains running over railway tracks. Rail can move heavy loads efficiently where continuous track infrastructure exists.
Airbridge: A sustained air transport route linking a source area with a distant destination. Repeated flights along an airbridge turn individual sorties into a continuing supply line.
Berlin Blockade: The 1948–1949 Soviet closure of land and water access to the Western sectors of Berlin. The blockade created the emergency that prompted the Berlin Airlift.

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