空中作战(air warfare)

由飞机、直升机（helicopter）或其他有人驾驶的动力飞行器进行的军事行动。进行空中作战可以用来攻击其他飞机、地面目标，以及水面或水下目标。19世纪时，用热气球观察敌军行动，但到20世纪空中作战的重要性才开始受人重视。到第一次世界大战时，英国、法国、德国、俄国和义大利的军队都组建了飞行部队，使用的飞机大部分是双翼机，用木质机体和布质蒙皮作的，装备机枪以击落敌方战斗机。齐柏林飞船（zeppelin）和协约国制造的大型飞机也用来轰炸。1920年代～1930年代飞机出现重大的技术进步，包括单翼机（monoplane）的发明、耐用的全金属机身和航空母舰（aircraft carrier）。第二次世界大战中空中作战的规模比以往的或此後的任何一场战争都要大。第一次完全在空中进行的重大战役是不列颠之战（Battle of Britain 1940）。空中作战的另一个里程碑是珊瑚海之战（the Battle of Coral Sea, 1942），这是第一场航空母舰之间的海战。1945年美国在日本广岛（Hiroshima）和长崎（Nagasaki）投下原子弹，进而结束了第二次世界大战。

English version：

air warfare

Military operations conducted by airplanes, helicopters, or other aircraft against aircraft or targets on the ground and in the water. Hot-air balloons were used in the 19th century to observe enemy troop movements, but air warfare did not become important until the 20th century. By World War I, the British, French, German, Russian, and Italian armed forces had flying units, including biplanes made of wood and fabric and armed with machine guns for “dogfights” with enemy fighter aircraft. Zeppelins and Allied airplanes also carried out bombing raids. The 1920s and '30s saw important advances, including development of the monoplane, the all-metal fuselage, and the aircraft carrier. The scale of air warfare in World War II remains unparalleled. The Battle of Britain (1940) was the first fought exclusively in the air, and the Battle of the Coral Sea (1942) was the first between aircraft carriers. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings (1945) ended the war.