An army aviation unit is an

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes airplane, fixed-wing and helicopter, rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as aerostat, lighter- ...

-related unit of a nation's

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, sometimes described as an air corps. These units are generally separate from a nation's dedicated

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

, and usually comprise

helicopters A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

and light support fixed-wing aircraft. Prior to the establishment of separate national air forces, many armies had military aviation units, which as the importance of aviation increased, were spun off into independent services. As the separation between a nation's army and air force led to a divergence of priorities, many armies sought to re-establish their own aviation branches to best serve their own organic tactical needs.

History

Military aviation first began as either army or naval aviation units established as force multipliers to allow armies and navies to better do what they were already doing, this taking mostly the form of

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

and artillery spotting, this led to the first fighter aircraft whose purpose was to shoot down enemy reconnaissance and artillery spotting aircraft, and to protect one's own aircraft from being shot down. At this point the purpose of aircraft was still to act as an adjunct to traditional armies and fleets operating in the traditional way. However, as aircraft became more technologically sophisticated military theorists of the interwar period began to think of airpower as a means in and of itself where the critical blow could be delivered by strategic bombing, and the experience of World War II confirmed this. Post World War II air forces such as the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and the newly established

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

concentrated on building strategic bomber forces for attack and fighter forces to defend against enemy bombers. Air forces still incorporated a significant amount of tactical missions through

air interdiction Air interdiction (AI), also known as deep air support (DAS), is the use of preventive tactical bombing and strafing by combat aircraft against enemy targets that are not an immediate threat, to delay, disrupt or hinder later enemy engagement of ...

and close air support missions. In order to acquire a close air support capability armies sought to expand, establish or re-establish their own tactical aviation branches, which are usually composed of helicopters, rather than fixed-wing aircraft. With the development of

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controll ...

s some armies have begun to use small battlefield UAVs, not attached to army aviation units, but rather directly attached to artillery battalions as spotters, and with the smallest and lightest drones being deployed by individual infantry platoons to provide real time local reconnaissance.

Tasks

The tasks of each army's aviation units are defined slightly different, depending on country. Some general characteristics include: *Tactical offensive action ( anti-tank warfare, air assault, and close air support) * ISTAR (

Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can ...

, Surveillance, Target acquisition,

Reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

) * Logistic and battlefield support *

Tactical transport An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distanc ...

both internally and externally, of personnel and material * Search and rescue * Medical evacuation * Liaison * Disaster relief

Equipment

In order to fulfill their manifold tasks, army aviation mostly uses helicopters. These helicopters can be classified into the following categories: * Attack helicopters for close air support of ground troops and anti-tank role * Transport helicopters * Observation helicopters * Utility helicopters * CSAR, Casualty Evacuation (CASEVAC)/ MEDEVAC helicopters * Training helicopters In addition to helicopters, some armies also operate fixed-wing aircraft for tactical reconnaissance.

By country

Argentine Army Aviation The Argentine Army Aviation ( es, Comando de Aviación de Ejército, AvEj) is the army aviation branch of the Argentine Army. Their members have the same rank insignia and titles as the rest of the Army. Along with its primary role of supporting ...

(

Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the comman ...

) * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom) (

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

) *

Army Aviation Corps (India) The Army Aviation Corps (AAC) is an arm of the Indian Army which was formed on 1 November 1986. The corps is headed by a director general (with the rank of lieutenant general) at army headquarters in New Delhi. History The origin of Army Aviatio ...

(

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

) * Australian Army Aviation (

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

) * Bangladesh Army Aviation Group ( Bangladesh Army) * Brazilian Army Aviation Command ( Brazilian Army) * Colombian National Army Aviation (

Colombian Army The National Army of Colombia ( es, Ejército Nacional de Colombia) is the land warfare service branch of the Military Forces of Colombia. With over 361,420 active personnel as of 2020, it is the largest and oldest service branch in Colombia, ...

) * French Army Light Aviation (

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

) * German Army Aviation Corps ( German Army) *

Hellenic Army Aviation The Army Aviation ( el, Αεροπορία Στρατού) is the army aviation branch of the Greek Armed Forces. Originally established in 1947 with light artillery spotter and liaison aircraft, the acquisition of transport helicopters from 1969 ...

(

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is th ...

) *

Indonesian Army Aviation The Indonesian Army ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), ) is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its r ...

( Indonesian Army) *

Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation (IRIAA) (in fa, هواپیمایی نیروی زمینی جمهوری اسلامی ایران), more commonly known as Havānīrūz (, ), is the army aviation of the Iranian Army ground forces. It is the la ...

(

Islamic Republic of Iran Army , founded = , current_form = (Islamic Republic) , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, Tehran , website = , commander-in-chief = Maj. Gen ...

) *Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aviation (IR.SA) AE-054@FDO 05NOV09 (6950716252)

* Iraqi Army Aviation Command ( Iraqi Army) *

Malaysian Army Aviation The Malaysian Army Aviation ( ms, Pasukan Udara Tentera Darat; PUTD) is the army aviation branch of the Malaysian Army. Currently equipped with helicopters in the liaison, transport and light attack roles. The Malaysian Army also plans to equip ...

(

Malaysian Army The Malaysian Army ( ms, Tentera Darat Malaysia; Jawi: تنترا دارت مليسيا) is the land component of the Malaysian Armed Forces. Steeped in British Army traditions, the Malaysian Army does not carry the title ‘royal’ () as do th ...

) * Nepalese Army Air Service ( Nepal Army) * Pakistan Army Aviation Corps ( Pakistan Army) * Portuguese Army Light Aviation Unit ( Portuguese Army) *

Spanish Army Airmobile Force The Army Airmobile Force ( es, Fuerzas Aeromóviles del Ejército de Tierra, FAMET) is the army aviation branch of the Spanish Army. An Independent Army Aviation force was formed in 1965 as Aviación Ligera del Ejército de Tierra (''Army Light ...

( Spanish Army) * Royal Thai Army Aviation Center ( Royal Thai Army) * United States Army Aviation Branch ( U.S. Army)

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Army aviation