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Anintruder is a military aircraft and its crew that is tasked withpenetrating deep into enemy air space, to disrupt operations. Intruders are usuallyfighters,attackers orlight bombers.
The intruder concept dates from World War II, the firstradar-equippednight and all-weather fighters were able to take advantage of the cover provided by night-time and meteorological conditions.
Intruder crews attack enemy fighters,airfields, radar and other infrastructure; stagediversionary attacks; andescortbombers. Intruders oftenloiter in the vicinity of enemy airbases to attack aircraft as they take off or land.
The technique was first used inWorld War II. Starting in July 1940, small numbers of Germanfast bombers would merge into streams ofRoyal Air Force bombers returning from night missions over Europe. Once past theChain Home radars, where they appeared to be returning bombers, they were free to attack RAF air bases. This often took the form of dropping light bombs, sometimesButterfly Bombs, and then strafing aircraft. Early operations were not very successful, but by 1941 they had claimed 125 aircraft destroyed. However, these missions were risky; during this same period, they lost 55 of their intruder aircraft.
The RAF eventually took up the same concept, using theHawker Hurricane Mk IIc as a makeshift intruder in various theatres. One of the first aircraft modified as a specialised intruder was theDouglas Havoc I. From late 1943,Bristol Beaufighters andde Havilland Mosquito intruders patrolled overoccupied Europe, usingSerrate radar detectors to hunt German night fighters.
In the post-war era, the term fell from use and was at times synonymous with theinterdictor concept. TheGrumman A-6C Intruder was an interdictor.
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