Counter-air patrol, known as Flower missions in
RAF parlance, is a type of flying mission for
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
against other fighters, common in World War II and sometimes combined with ''fighter sweeps'' (Rhubarb missions) against
targets of opportunity. Counter-air patrol is an attempt to achieve
air superiority
Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of c ...
by maintaining patrols above and around enemy airfields.
Aircraft are vulnerable on take off, fully loaded and working to gain altitude and speed. The aim of the counter-air patrol was to pick off enemy fighters as they took off and during their climb to an operational height. Fighter sweeps were used both to
attrit the enemy and to provide cover for bombing raids by forcing enemy fighters to protect their own airfields.
References
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See also
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Combat air patrol
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Intruder (air combat)
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Offensive counter air
Counter-air patrol