Anairlift is the organized delivery ofsupplies orpersonnel primarily viamilitary transport aircraft.
Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distances (such as across or off the continent or theater), whereas a tactical airlift focuses on deploying resources and material into a specific location with high precision.
Depending on the situation, airlifted supplies can be delivered by a variety of means. When the destination and surroundingairspace is considered secure, the aircraft will land at an appropriateairport orairbase to have its cargo unloaded on the ground. When landing the craft or distributing the supplies to a certain area from alanding zone by surface transportation is not an option, the cargo aircraft can drop them in mid-flight usingparachutes attached to the supply containers in question. When there is a broad area available where the intended receivers have control without fear of the enemy interfering with the collection and/or stealing the goods, the planes can maintain a normal flightaltitude and simplyairdrop the supplies down and let them parachute to the ground. However, when the area is too small for this method, as with an isolated base, and/or is too dangerous to land in, aLow-altitude parachute-extraction system drop is used.
During disasters and other crises, airlifts are used to support or replace other transport methods to relieve beleagueredcivilian populations. Examples include theBerlin Airlift, to supply isolatedWest Berlin with food and coal, the1990 Air India airlift to rescue Indian citizens caught up in theGulf War, and the 1967–70Biafran airlift during theNigerian Civil War.
In November 1915 theFrench squadronMF 99 S, equipped withFarman MF.11, flew wounded soldiers fromSerbia throughAlbania toCorfu. This was the firstmedevac operation in air history.[1][2]
In April 1923 aircraft of theBritishRoyal Air Force'sIraq Command flew 280Sikh troops fromKingarban toKirkuk in the first British air trooping operation. This operation was only conducted over a short-range and it was not until 1929 that the RAF conducted a long-range non-combat air evacuation ofBritish Embassy staff fromAfghanistan toIndia using aVickers Victoria during theKabul airlift.
The world'sfirst long-range combat airlift took place from July to October 1936.[3]Nazi GermanLuftwaffeJu 52 andFascist ItalianRegia AeronauticaSavoia-Marchetti SM.81 were used by theSpanish Nationalist Air Force to transportArmy of Africa troops fromSpanish Morocco to theSpanish mainland at thebeginning of theSpanish Civil War.
Airlifts became practical duringWorld War II as aircraft became large and sophisticated enough to handle large cargo demands. The Germans used an airlift in successful relief of theDemyansk Pocket, albeit with the Luftwaffe suffering considerable losses to its fleet of transport planes. Due to the apparent vindication of the airlift tactic, Chief of theOberkommando der LuftwaffeHermann Göring assuredAdolf Hitler that the Luftwaffe could conduct an airlift on a larger scale, which was the key factor not to let theSixth Army withdraw fromStalingrad after itsencirclement by theRed Army. However the Luftwaffe was strained at this point while facing better prepared Soviet air forces at Stalingrad, so they were unable to delivery the necessary supplies before the airfields were overrun. In spite of the airlift's obvious shortcomings, Hitler refused permission for the Sixth Army to attempt a breakout, eventually leading its commanderFriedrich Paulus to surrender.[4]
TheU.S. Army Air Force'sAir Transport Command began the largest and longest-sustained airlift of the war in May 1942, delivering more than half a million net tons of materiel from India toFree China overthe Hump by November 1945. After many USAAF airmen were shot down inNazi-occupied Serbia duringOperation Tidal Wave, theU.S. Fifteenth Air Force and theOffice of Strategic Services evacuated a number of them inOperation Halyard with the assistance ofDraža Mihailović'sChetnik partisans.[5] Additionally, at the end of World War II the USAAF and the RAF arranged humanitarianairdrops to theNazi-occupied Netherlands throughOperations Manna and Chowhound to alleviate theDutch famine of 1944-45.[6]
The largest airlift was theBerlin airlift, lasting from June 1948 to September 1949, an international operation intended to thwart the blockading ofWest Berlin by theSoviet Union. The airlift was arranged by theU.S. Air Force, the British Royal Air Force, theFrench Air Force, theRoyal Canadian Air Force, theRoyal Australian Air Force, theRoyal New Zealand Air Force, and theSouth African Air Force usingC-47 Skytrains,C-54 Skymasters,Handley Page Haltons, andShort Sunderlands.[7] Many Soviet and Western leaders alike initially assumed that an airlift to resupply West Berlin would fail because of the results of the Battle of Stalingrad. However, it instead succeeded and became an embarrassment for the Soviet Union, which ended the blockade.[8][9] The blockade and the success of the airlift would be a major factor in thebeginning of the Cold War and the formation of theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization, theWestern European Union, and theFederal Republic of Germany.[10][11]
TheIsraeli Air Force andEl Al conducted a number of airlifts during theJewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries toIsrael after the1948 Arab–Israeli War. In 1949 Israel evacuated 49,000Yemenite Jews toIsrael viaOperation On Wings of Eagles.[12] In 1951 it carried outOperation Ezra and Nehemiah evacuating over 120,000Jews fromIraq to Israel viaBritish Cyprus.[13] TheIsrael Defense Forces later evacuated over 8,000Beta Israel refugees fromEthiopia living inrefugee camps inSudan throughOperation Moses,Operation Joshua, andOperation Solomon during theEthiopian famine andcivil war.[14][15][16]
During theFirst Indochina War, the French expeditionary forces devised thehérisson ('hedgehog') concept, establishing a fortifiedairhead by airlifting soldiers to positions adjacent to key Viet Minh supply lines to Laos. This would cut offViet Minh soldiers fighting in Laos and force them to withdraw. "It was an attempt to interdict the enemy's rear area, to stop the flow of supplies and reinforcements, to establish a redoubt in the enemy's rear and disrupt his lines". It was executed successfully at theBattle of Nà Sản, so the French hoped to repeat it on a larger scale at theBattle of Điện Biên Phủ.[17] However, based on the lessons learned from Nà Sản, the Viet Minh improved their preparations at Điện Biên Phủ including concealed artillery and massed anti-aircraft batteries, making it dangerous for the French aircraft to use the runways, afterwards a bombardment forced the French to abandon use of the airstrip altogether and rely upon parachute drops. The besieged French forces eventually surrendered.[18]
The largest civilian airlift ever, theBiafran airlift, was carried out byProtestant andCatholic churches working together under the banner "Joint Church Aid" (JCA) to carry food toBiafra, during theBiafran secession war fromNigeria in 1967–70. This joint effort (which those involved used to call "Jesus Christ Airlines" as an inside joke from the initials JCA) is estimated to have saved more than a million lives in Biafra. Most airplanes departed fromPortuguese São Tomé and Príncipe to the bush landing strip ofUli, the only operational "airport" in Biafra, which was made by enlarging a common road. Flights were made flying at night with all lights off and under near-totalradio silence to avoidNigerian Air ForceMiG aircraft. All the airplanes, crews, and logistics were paid, set up, and maintained by the joint church groups. JCA and their crews and aircraft (mostly aging multi prop airliners likeDC-7's,Lockheed Constellation andSuperconstellations,DC-6's, andDC3's) kept flying into Biafra at the cost of many crews lives.[19][20]
During the 1973Yom Kippur War, theU.S. Air ForceMilitary Airlift Command conductedOperation Nickel Grass to resupply Israel in the face of a coordinated surprise attack byEgypt andSyria.[21] The airlift allowed Israel to begin a counteroffensive against the Arab states but caused theOrganization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to place anoil embargo on the United States, beginning the1970s energy crisis.[22]
During the 1974Turkish invasion of Cyprus theHellenic Air Force attempted to airlift commandos toNicosia Airport throughOperation Niki but failed after theNord Noratlas planes were shot down byfriendly fire from theCypriot National Guard after flying overRAF Akrotiri.[23][24]
The largest civilian airlift in history was conducted byAir India during theGulf War, which repatriated 176,000 Indianmigrant workers stranded inBa'athist Iraq after theinvasion of Kuwait.[25][26]India has conducted other airlifts of migrant workers during Middle Eastern crises. TheIndian Navy evacuated numerous Indian civilians from the2006 Lebanon War viaOperation Sukoon, from theFirst Libyan Civil War viaOperation Safe Homecoming, from theSouth Sudanese Civil War viaOperation Sankat Mochan, and from theSaudi-Yemen War inOperation Raahat.[27][28][29] ThePakistan Navy alsoevacuated Pakistani nationals from Yemen via an airlift during the Saudi intervention.[30] The Indian Armed Forces also conducted an airlift to Nepal after the2015 Nepal earthquake throughOperation Maitri.[31]
During theoutbreak of theCOVID-19 pandemic inWuhan, numerous air forces and civilian airlines arrangedevacuation flights fromWuhan Tianhe International Airport.[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]
The highest rate of civilian airlift in history (number of civilians evacuated per day) was during fall of Kabul in August 2021, where 778 flights evacuated 124,334 people over 17 days - 7,300 civilians per day (compared to 2,700 per day airlift of Indians from Kuwait in 1990).[40] The evacuation peaked on August 23, 2021, where over 21,600 civilians were evacuated in a single day. During thefall of Kabul at the end of theWar in Afghanistan after theTaliban captured most ofAfghanistan in a2021 offensive following thewithdrawal of US and NATO forces,foreign governments evacuated hundreds of thousands of their citizens as well as at-risk Afghans fromHamid Karzai International Airport.[41][42][43] As part of theU.S. Armed Forces'Operation Allies Refuge, U.S. Secretary of DefenseLloyd Austin requisitioned U.S. airliners through theCivil Reserve Air Fleet to assist theU.S. Transportation Command.[44] TheU.S. Department of Defense later claimed to have evacuated 122,000 people, includingU.S. citizens and AfghanSpecial Immigrant Visa applicants.[45] Other airlifts included theBritish Armed Forces'Operation Pitting, theCanadian Armed Forces'Operation AEGIS, and theIndian Armed Forces'Operation Devi Shakti.
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Strategic airlift is the use ofmilitary transport aircraft to transportvehicles,materiel,weaponry, orpersonnel over long distances. Typically, this involves airlifting the required items between two airbases that are not in the same vicinity. This allowscommanders to bring items into a combat theater from a point on the other side of the planet, if necessary. Aircraft which perform this role are consideredstrategic airlifters. This contrasts with tactical airlifters, such as theC-130 Hercules andTransall C-160, which can normally only move supplies within a giventheater of operations.
Examples of late current large strategic airlifters include:
However it is prohibitively expensive and impractical to shift a substantial mechanised force such asmain battle tanks by air. For instance theM1 Abrams could only be carried by aC-5 Galaxy (two tanks) or aC-17 Globemaster III (one tank). This difficulty has prompted investment in lighter armoured fighting vehicles (such as theStryker), as well as some preliminary research into alternative airlift technologies such asground effect vehicles andairships. Civilian aircraft are also commonly used for transportation. For some civilian airlines, such asVolga-Dnepr Airlines, military contracts account for a large portion of their income.
Tactical airlift is amilitary term for the airborne transportation of supplies and equipment within atheatre of operations (in contrast to strategic airlift). Aircraft that perform this role are referred to astactical airlifters. These are typicallyturboprop aircraft and feature short landing and take-off distances and low-pressure tires allowing operations from small or poorly prepared airstrips. While they lack the speed and range of strategic airlifters (which are typicallyjet-powered), these capabilities are invaluable within war zones. Largermilitary transport helicopters, such as theCH-47 Chinook andMil Mi-26, can also be used to airlift personnel and equipment. Helicopters have the advantage that they do not require a landing strip and that equipment can often be suspended below the aircraft allowing it to be delivered without landing but are fuel inefficient and thus typically have limited range. Hybrid aircraft such as theBell Boeing V-22 Osprey also exist which attempt to combineVTOL flight with greater range and speed.
Tactical airlift aircraft are designed to be maneuverable, allowing the low-altitude flight to avoid detection by radar and for theairdropping of supplies. Most are fitted withdefensive aids systems to protect them from attack bysurface-to-air missiles.
The earliest Soviet tactical airlift occurred in 1929, in which forty men of theRed Army were airlifted to the town ofGarm,Tajikistan (then theTajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) to repel an attacking force ofBasmachi rebels underFuzail Maksum.[47]
Examples of late current large tactical airlifters include:
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| Aircraft[48][49][50][51] | Role | Max. payload (Kg) | Range (NM) | Cruise(Mach) | Ceiling (Ft.) | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonov An-72[52] | Tactical | 10,000 | 1,728 NM | Mach .68 | 36,089 Ft | $12.5m (est.) |
| C-130J Super Hercules[53] | Tactical | 19,050 | 2,380 NM | Mach .58 | 33,000 Ft | $ 52m (est.) |
| Antonov An-12 | Tactical | 20,000 | 1,940 NM | Mach .55 | 33,000 Ft | — |
| Shaanxi Y-8 | Tactical | 20,000 | 3,030 NM | Mach .45 | 34,000 Ft | — |
| Embraer KC-390 | Tactical | 26,000 | 3,140 NM | Mach .70 | 36,000 Ft | $ 50m (est.) |
| Shaanxi Y-9 | Tactical | 25,000 | 3,700 NM | Mach .53 | 34,120 Ft | — |
| Airbus A400M Atlas | Strategic/tactical | 37,000 | 2,450 NM | Mach .72 | 37,000 Ft | € 100m (est.) |
| Airbus C295 | Tactical | 9,250 | 2,100 NM | Mach .35 | 30,000 Ft | - |
| Kawasaki C-2 | Strategic/tactical | 37,600 | 3,000 NM | Mach .80 | 40,000 Ft | $ 120m (est.) |
| Antonov An-70 | Tactical | 47,000 | 1,621 NM | Mach .73 | 40,000 Ft | $ 80m (est.) |
| Ilyushin Il-76 | Strategic/tactical | 60,000 | 2,700 NM | Mach .70 | 42,700 Ft | $ 120m (est.) |
| Xian Y-20 | Strategic | 66,000 | 2,430 NM | Mach .75 | 42,700 Ft | — |
| C-17 Globemaster III | Strategic/tactical | 77,520 | 2,380 NM | Mach .77 | 45,000 Ft | $ 225m |
| C-5 Galaxy | Strategic | 122,472 | 2,400 NM | Mach .77 | 34,000 Ft | $ 168m |
| Antonov An-124 | Strategic | 150,000 | 2,808 NM | Mach .65 | 35,000 Ft | $70–100m |
| Antonov An-225 | Strategic | 250,000 | 2,159 NM | Mach .61 | 33,000 Ft | — |
| National | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
