The capacity to strike from the air at operational depth: interdiction, close air support and the tactical strike complex.
The Capability Development Index tracks the events that move a capability — operational use, technical breakthroughs, procurement decisions and the industrial base behind them — and places each on the record with the date it happened.
Recent developments cover the current period. Historical developments are the inflection points that produced Air Strike & Interdiction as it stands today.
NATO doctrine during the Cold War leaned heavily on air interdiction as a core element of overall force effectiveness in support of land and sea operations. The alliance tied the mission to requirements for long-distance airlift and air-to-air refuelling capabilities.
Preventive tactical bombing and strafing of enemy targets that were not an immediate threat emerged as a practice during the First World War. It established interdiction as a distinct mission from close air support and strategic bombing, aimed at delaying, disrupting or hindering enemy forces before they could engage friendly troops.
In the lead-up to the invasion of France, the Allied strategic bomber force was redirected from attacking the German air force and war production to severing the rail routes serving the intended landing areas. Once the landings began, tactical and strategic air forces were used to prevent German armoured reserves reaching the coast, demonstrating interdiction at operational depth in support of a ground campaign.
Both the Iranian and Iraqi air forces attempted to interdict the other at the start of the Iran–Iraq War, relying mostly on armed reconnaissance and targets of opportunity rather than pre-planned strikes. Iraqi efforts peaked in the first 45 days and Iranian efforts declined after mid-January 1981; neither campaign proved decisive, and both sides withdrew their air forces to conserve them against defeat.