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Airhead

Designated area in hostile territory for landing transport aircraft

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated July 20, 2024
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An airhead is a designated area in a hostile or threatened territory which, when seized and held, allows the air landing of further teams and materiel via an airbridge, and provides the maneuver and preparation space necessary for projected operations. Normally, it is the area seized in the assault phase of an airborne operation. It may also be used as a staging or refueling point for less permanent operations.

Typically, an airhead is established by helicopter-landed or paratrooper forces, and often will take place at an airport (to allow conventional transport to land later on) or at a helicopter or glider-accessible area.

Notable airhead operations include Battle of Crete and Operation Market Garden during World War II, and Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989. Operation Castor was intended to establish an offensive airhead, but quickly degenerated into the Siege of Dien Bien Phu. Another recent example includes the Battle of Hostomel Airport.

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This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Airhead”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

Beachhead

A beachhead is a temporary line created when a military unit reaches a landing beach by sea and begins to defend the area as other reinforcements arrive. Once a large enough unit is assembled, the invading force can begin advancing inland.

Bridgehead

In military strategy, a bridgehead is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over by the belligerent forces. Bridgeheads typically exist for only a few days, the invading forces either being thrown back or expanding the bridgehead to create a secure defensive lodgement area, before breaking out into enemy territory, such as when the U.S. 9th Armored Division seized the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen in 1945 during World War II. In some cases a bridgehead may exist for months.

Lodgement

A lodgement or lodgment is an enclave, taken and defended by force of arms against determined opposition, made by increasing the size of a bridgehead, beachhead, or airhead into a substantial defended area, at least the rear parts of which are out of direct line of fire. An example is Operation Overlord, the establishment of a large-scale lodgement in Normandy during World War II. Another example is the Second Punic War, in which Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, and later Publius Scipio, established a well-sized lodgement in North Eastern Spain.