Anti-aircraft warfare
Anti-aircraft warfare is the military practice of detecting and engaging hostile aircraft with weapons, sensors, and coordinated defenses.
Air defense radar: A radar system that detects, tracks, or identifies aircraft to support defensive operations. Radar supplies early warning and tracking data for engagements.
London anti-aircraft defenses of the First World War: The guns, searchlights, and warning arrangements used to defend London from German air raids during the First World War. These defenses show the practice's early response to strategic bombing raids.
Air superiority: A degree of control over the air that allows operations without prohibitive interference from opposing air forces. Anti-aircraft forces contest the enemy's ability to operate freely in the air.
Integrated air defense system: A network of sensors, command systems, and weapons coordinated to defend airspace. It represents the large-scale coordination of anti-aircraft capabilities.
Combat air patrol: A military aircraft patrol positioned to detect and engage hostile aircraft before they attack a protected area. It uses airborne fighters rather than ground-based weapons to defend airspace.
Air defense command and control: The systems and procedures that coordinate sensors, commanders, and weapons in air defense. Command networks assign targets and coordinate otherwise separate defensive units.
Battle of Britain: The 1940 air campaign in which Britain resisted German attempts to gain air superiority over southern England. Britain's integrated radar, command, and fighter defenses became a landmark air-defense system.
Radar: A system that uses radio waves to detect objects and estimate their range, direction, or speed. Air-defense radar applies this sensing technology to airborne targets.
Naval air defense: The detection and engagement of airborne threats by ships and coordinated naval forces. Ship defenses adapt the practice to mobile platforms and threats over water.
Fighter aircraft: A military aircraft designed primarily to gain and maintain control of airspace through combat with other aircraft. Fighters can intercept threats at distance, complementing or replacing ground-based engagements.