An intruder is a military aircraft and its crew that is tasked with penetrating deep into enemy air space, to disrupt operations. Intruders are usually fighters, attackers or

light bomber A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance. The earliest light bombers were intended to dr ...

s. The intruder concept dates from World War II, the first

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

-equipped night 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; stage

diversion Diversion, Diversions, or The Diversion may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Diversion'' (film), a 1980 British television film adapted into the 1987 movie ''Fatal Attraction'' * ''Diversion'' (play), a 1927 work by John Van Druten * '' T ...

ary attacks; and escort

bombers A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strategic bombing is ...

. Intruders often loiter in the vicinity of enemy airbases to attack aircraft as they take off or land. The technique was first used in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Starting in July 1940, small numbers of German fast bombers would merge into streams of

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

bombers returning from night missions over Europe. Once past the

Chain Home Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal early warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the off ...

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, sometimes Butterfly 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 the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

Mk IIc as a makeshift intruder in various theatres. One of the first aircraft modified as a specialised intruder was the Douglas Havoc I. From late 1943, Bristol Beaufighters and

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...

intruders patrolled over

occupied Europe German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, using Serrate radar detectors to hunt German night fighters. In the post-war era, the term fell from use and was at times synonymous with the interdictor concept. The Grumman A-6C Intruder was an interdictor.

References

* McIntosh, Dave, ''Terror in the Starboard Seat'', Aerial warfare tactics {{mil-aviation-stub

See also

References