escort fighter

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escort fighter

[′es‚kȯrt ‚fīd·ər]

(aerospace engineering)

A fighter designed or equipped for long-range missions, usually to accompany heavy bombers on raids.

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fighter escort

References in periodicals archive ?

Used as both a high-altitude escort fighter and a low-level fighter-bomber, the P-47 quickly gained a reputation for ruggedness.

Clearing the air: allied air campaign paves the way for D-Day success at Normandy

The B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft" sortied yesterday from Barnstable Airport in the company of "Betty Jane," a P-51 Mustang escort fighter.

Memories take wing; WWII aircraft lasting links to time of sacrifice

Although the crisis of the unescorted bomber in the fall of 1943 opens the film, portrayal of efforts to develop a long-range escort fighter force leaves the impression that the problem was solved almost overnight.

Allied Air Power 1942-1945: A Newsreel History of Allied Air Force Operations in World War II

15) Introduction of the P-51 Mustang as the critical long-range escort fighter enabled US forces to resume bombing raids deep into German airspace and quickly sweep European skies of German aircraft.

Global power requires a global, persistent air-to-air capability

Fortunately, the day was saved by a technology previously dismissed--the long-range escort fighter.

Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Ideas About Strategic Bombing, 1914-1945. (Book Reviews)

Yet, repeated attempts to build a suitable escort fighter were unsuccessful.

Getting to the target: the penetration problem in strategic air command during the 1950s

6) Moreover, in 1940 Arnold's agents told him that the German twin-engine Me 110, designed as an escort fighter, was a failure in the battle, even requiring escorts of its own to survive.

P-51 escorts: legend or myth?

His treatment of the long-range escort fighter of World War II is one case in point: competent but conventional.

Misguided Weapons: Technological Failure and Surprise on the Battlefield

Graft emphasizes the fact that the Thunderbolt was the most numerous American escort fighter during the crucial period of 1943 through the first half of 1944 despite not having the long range of its successor, the Mustang.

P-47 Thunderbolt at War

The other escort fighter was the twin engine P-38H Lightning, which had first arrived at Eighth Air Force bases in England in August 1942.

The P-51 Mustang: the most important aircraft in history?

Notably absent is the perspective of the escort fighter pilots who after 1943 were an indispensible part of the equation and a major component of the Eighth Air Force.

Clash of Eagles: USAAF 8th Air Force Bombers Versus the Luftwaffe in World War 2

Known for its durability, the P-47 was an outstanding close air support aircraft as well as an excellent escort fighter.