A liaison aircraft (also called an army cooperation aircraft) is a small, usually unarmed

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messages.

Operation

The concept developed before

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 ...

and included also battlefield

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

air ambulance Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...

, column control, light cargo delivery and similar duties. Able to operate from small, unimproved fields under primitive conditions, with

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

capabilities, most liaison aircraft were developed from, or were later used as

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

aircraft. Both fixed-wing aircraft and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s can perform liaison duties.

Use by country

Argentina

(

Fuerza Aérea Argentina The Argentine Air Force (, or simply ''FAA'') is the air force of Argentina and one of three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. In 2018, it had 13,837 military and 6,900 civilian personnel. FAA commander in chief is Brigadie ...

) * Piper Chincul PA-28 Dakota * Piper Chincul PA-34 Seneca * Cessna C-182 * Beechcraft TC-12B Huron

Bulgaria

* Kaproni Bulgarski KB-11 Fazan

Germany

Nazi period: * Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch'' * Messerschmitt Bf 108 ''Taifun'' * Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu LR-1

Japan

Imperial period: * Kokusai Ki-76 ( Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, 1942–1945) * Tachikawa Ki-36 ( Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, 1938–1945) Postwar period: * LR-1 (

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The , , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct ...

, 1967–2016) * LC-90 ( Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, 1974–)

Poland

Lublin R-XIII The Lublin R-XIII was the Polish army cooperation plane (observation and liaison plane), designed in the early-1930s in the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin. It was the main army cooperation plane in the Invasion of Poland. Its variant Lu ...

* RWD-14 Czapla * PZL Ł.2

Portugal

* Piper L-21 Super Cub (

Portuguese Army The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...

, 1952–1957 and

Portuguese Air Force The Portuguese Air Force () is the air force, aerial warfare force of Portugal. Locally it is referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PRTAF. It is the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese ...

, 1957–1976) * Auster D.5/160 (Portuguese Air Force, 1961–1974) *

Dornier Do 27 The Dornier Do 27 is a German single-engine STOL utility aircraft that was designed and manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier and Fairchild-Dornier). It was notable for being the first mass-produced aircraft in Germany following the en ...

(Portuguese Air Force, 1961–1979) * Reims-Cessna FTB-337, (Portuguese Air Force, 1974–2007)

Soviet Union

Polikarpov Po-2 The Polikarpov Po-2 (also U-2 before 1944, for its initial Glossary of Russian and USSR aviation acronyms: Aircraft designations, ''uchebnyy'', 'training', role as a flight instruction aircraft) was an all-weather multirole Soviet Union, Soviet b ...

Kukuruznik ("Crop Duster")

Sweden

* Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub as ''Flygplan 51'', 1958–1974 *

as ''Flygplan 53'', 1962–1991 * Scottish Aviation Bulldog as ''Flygplan 61C'', 1972–1989

Switzerland

* Pilatus PC-6

United Kingdom

* de Havilland Dominie *

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British Army cooperation aircraft, army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operat ...

Taylorcraft Auster The Taylorcraft Auster was a British military liaison aircraft, liaison and observation aircraft produced by the Auster Aircraft, Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited company during the Second World War. Design and development The Auster ...

AOP

United States

References

External links

www.als-cannonfield.com
– The Alamo Liaison Squadron is a group dedicated to restoring and flying liaison aircraft.
Lbirds.com
– Website with resources, information, and models of US WWII liaison aircraft
Lbirds
– Forum open to discussion about liaison aircraft Aircraft by type {{aviation-stub