Anairbridge is the route and means of delivering material from one place to another by anairlift.[1]
An airbridge is the means by which anairhead is kept supplied by flying over enemy held territory. An airlift over an airbridge can also be used when the most convenient means of transport is by air, or as an additional supplement to other forms of transport.
During theSecond World War, the Germans used air bridges on three major occasions: theDemyansk Pocket, theBattle of Stalingrad and theKuban bridgehead. As Demyansk turned into a German victory with the success of the bridge,Hermann Göring convinced Hitler a similar method could be used to supply the Sixth Army at Stalingrad. However, the Luftwaffe was never able to send in the necessary 800 tons of supplies per day. The Kuban Airlift from February–March 1943 was much more successful as the German air units in theTaman peninsula had access to established airfields with good supply and maintenance facilities, the weather was more favorable and Soviet opposition was much weaker than at Stalingrad. In February 1943, the Germans evacuated 50,000 men by air from the northwestern Caucasus to theCrimea andUkraine. German units within the Kuban bridgehead received by air a daily ration of 500 tons of ammunition, food, fuel and other supplies, which would have been enough to keep 6th Army in Stalingrad operational. Some 2,000 men were airlifted every day from the Kuban bridgehead. At maximum effort, the Caucasus airlift brought in 700 tons of supplies and evacuated 5,000 men on a daily basis.[2]
DuringCroatian War of Independence andBosnian War, Croatian government suppliedBosnian 5th Corps inBihać enclave surrounded by Serb forces. The Fifth Corps was supplied bymateriel usingMi-8/17 helicopters and smaller airplanes.[3] The missions were flown by foreign mercenary pilots from Ukraine, Russia and Hungary for a fee of5000 Deutsche Marks per flight as these missions were considered very dangerous. Out of 101 organized flights, 91 were successful and 10 failed.[3]
Two of the largest airbridges in history were:The Hump, (the name given by Allied pilots in theSecond World War to the eastern end of theHimalayan Mountains over which they flew fromIndia toChina to resupply theChinese Government forces ofChiang Kai-shek) and the USXX Bomber Command (duringOperation Matterhorn); and theBerlin Airlift, to overcome theBerlin Blockade from 24 June 1948 through to 11 May 1949.
Following the 1982Falklands War, theUnited Kingdom established the Falklands Airbridge (also known as the RAF Airbridge or South Atlantic Airbridge) betweenRAF Brize Norton in the UK andRAF Mount Pleasant in theFalkland Islands (viaRAF Ascension Island).[4][5][6][7] The service facilitates both civilian and tourist air connectivity and reinforces theBritish Forces South Atlantic Islands garrison.[8]
