List of attack aircraft

The ground attack aircraft listed here are military aircraft used to attack targets on the ground with greater speed and a smaller radar cross section than strategic bombers.^[1] Historically, attack aircraft were used for their higher precision compared to strategic bombers when delivering unguided munitions. Modern attack aircraft may be expected to function in high threat environments where enemy air defences preclude the use of strategic bombers. There are bound to be some overlap in the role and design between categories and some multirole combat aircraft appear in more than one list. Fighters, fighter-bombers, and even trainers have also often been used in the role of attack aircraft. Trainer aircraft have particularly been re-perpoused as attack aircraft when they were obsolete in their original role, or as a cheaper alternative where air defences are minimal.^[2]

The use of the term attack aircraft is primarily an American term, as other countries have described identical aircraft variously as light bombers, army cooperation aircraft and close support aircraft. In the US Air Force the naming convention for ground attack aircraft is a prefix "A-", followed by a number, e.g. A-10, bomber aircraft are prefixed with “B-”, e.g. B-52, and fighter aircraft with “F-”, e.g. F-35.^[3]

This list is limited to fixed-wing aircraft that have been built, and does not include abandoned concepts or fictional aircraft. Dates after each entry are of first flight.

• List of fighter aircraft

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