Editing Combat Aircraft (section)

==History==
During WWI, biplanes armed with machineguns were deployed to attack or defend observation balloons, which were used as spotters for ground artillery. Being made of wood and unable to fly fast or high up, these early aircraft were also vulnerable to ground weapons. They were also used to defend against Zeppelins, which were among the first strategic bombers, though before incendiary bullets were invented it wasn't easy to bring down a rigid [[airship]] simply by poking it full of holes. That said during and before world war one there was actually a fair bit of skepticism from generals that airplanes were going to be any good. See the top quote for example. Looking back some of these quotes are unintentionally hilarious given how powerful air power is nowadays, but looking forward with only the example of the canvas and wood planes of the time, it's not hard to see how they might think that.

By WWII, airplanes took a leading role in combat operations, both in major combat operations such as the [[wikipedia:Battle of Britain|Battle of Britain]], as well as providing combat support for intelligence and deep strike operations. More advanced defenses had to be developed for faster and higher-flying aircraft; thus radar was invented to track the position of aircraft long before they came into visual range.

During the Cold War, aircraft development continued to be refined; while most ground-support operations were now relegated to the newly developed helicopter, airplanes took on a strategic role in nuclear deterrence strategies - at least until ICBMs made them effectively moot. Nonetheless, they still had value in intelligence and rapid response roles. As missile technology improved, it was believed that dogfighting was no longer a viable strategy given that aircraft could be taken out beyond visual range, and thus for a period of time fighters lacked any guns, as seen on the [[wikipedia:F-4 Phantom|F-4 Phantom]]. They were brought back, however, as they realized that this was a problem if the aircraft in question needed to be identified first, and that getting within visual range was too close for missiles. This also lead to the development of holographic and computer-aided gunsights, as well as other advanced displays to the cockpit.

Military aircraft frequently spur many advanced new technologies that push the limit of what powered flight is capable of. Aircraft intended for use with aircraft carriers often have special requirements, such as a hook for catching the arresting wire and a minimum distance for takeoff. This lead to the development of VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) technology as early as the 1960s, as seen on the [[AV-8 Harrier]] and [[wikipedia:F-35 Lightning II|F-35 Lightning II]], where an aircraft can redirect its thrust downward to takeoff and land vertically, albeit this limits the aircraft's flight time quite a bit as it consumes a lot of fuel. Stealth aircraft, meanwhile, started taking off a decade later when it was discovered that certain airframe shapes could be used to reduce and aircraft's radar profile, thus making it harder to detect. The [[wikipedia:F-117 Nighthawk|F-117 Nighthawk]] attempted to accomplish this with the wonkiest airframe shape imaginable, but more recent aircraft are able to accomplish the same feats with a more conventional layout such as the [[wikipedia:F-22 Raptor|F-22 Raptor]], or the more radical "flying wing" design used by the [[wikipedia:B-2 Spirit|B-2 Spirit]].