Airstrike
From Free net encyclopedia
An airstrike is a military strike by air forces on an enemy ground position, which depending on the selected tactics may or may not be followed up by artillery, armor, and/or infantry units. Airstrikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as bombers, ground attack aircraft, or strike fighters. Weapons used in an airstrike can range from machine gun bullets, to missiles, and to various types of bombs such as nuclear bombs.
The United States code for calling in all available aricraft for an airstrike is "Broken Arrow", and was used during the movie "We Were Soldiers", depicting the battle at Landing Zone X-Ray during the Vietnam War.
Bombing by aircraft is sometimes used in peacetime to break ice dams that form in big rivers, to prevent disastrous flooding.