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ORGANIZATION

Most, but not all, armed forces have air forces that are ''independent'' - that is, it is neither part of the Army nor the Navy . This does not stop armies and especially navies from possessing air arms to support their land or sea operations, although some, such as the Canadian Air Force operate all military aircraft, even when they are attached to Canadian Army units.

Air Forces typically operate numerous types of aircraft. These may include
  • '' Fighters '', used to destroy other aircraft;

  • '' Bomber s'' and ''Attack Aircraft'', used to attack ground targets;

  • '' Reconnaissance Aircraft'';

  • '' Electronic Warfare Aircraft'';

  • '' Airborne Early Warning Aircraft'';

  • ''Transport Aircraft'';

  • ''Tankers'' which provide in-flight re-fuelling for other aircraft;

  • '' Helicopter s'', used for attack, reconnaissance or transport;

  • and ''Training Aircraft''.


Air forces also operate numerous types of satellites. These satellites provide services such as:
  • Secure and unsecure communications

  • Position, navigation and timing

  • Missile warning

  • Weather data

  • Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaisance (ISR)


Some air forces such as the British and the Royal Air Force ) are divided into ''commands'', ''groups'' and ''squadrons''; others (such as the Soviet Air Force ) have an Army-syle organizational structure.

Contrary to popular belief, pilots often make up only a small portion of an air force's personnel. For every pilot, there is a flight crew who supports the air craft, a maintenance group, communications crew, satellite operators, administrative personnel, medical personnel...in truth, although the majority of the senior leadership of most air forces are pilots, the majority of the personnel are not. Some air forces also operate Anti-aircraft Artillery (now with Radar s and Missile s), and a few air forces even have their own Paratrooper s. Given the pilots' special status, they often wear special insignia in the form of a Vol or "wings". Other air crews might wear variations of such insignia.


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