Airmobile infantry
Airmobile infantry is infantry that is transported to the scene of action by aircraft and fights there as an infantry.
history
As early as the First World War , the later Brigadier General Billy Mitchell worked out a planning concept for the airborne infantry landing behind enemy lines. It was not implemented because of the end of the war and the expense that was too high for the time.
The first paratroopers were deployed by the Italian army . The first military parachute jump took place in November 1927. The Soviet Union followed suit in the 1930s with the establishment of paratrooper and airmobile infantry units.
The first combat missions by air landings were carried out by the Wehrmacht in 1940 with parts of the 22nd Airborne Division , consisting of motorcycle rifle and infantry units, against the airfields of Ockenburg, Ypenburg and Valkenburg in the Netherlands during the western campaign with Junkers Ju 52 / 3m and transport aircraft Seaplanes by. Another early form was the landing of parachute pioneers under Rudolf Witzig against Fort Eben-Emael with DFS 230 gliders . The bulk of the first wave paratroopers in the airborne battle of Crete were parachuted down. It was not until the second wave that the 5th Mountain Division landed directly with the transport aircraft on the captured airfields.
During the Normandy landings and Operation Tonga , the Allies used cargo gliders to a large extent to land airborne infantry and heavy weapons and light vehicles, mostly jeeps.
During the Vietnam War , the 1st US Cavalry Division, which at that time was an infantry division, was deployed with helicopters and supported by combat helicopters or armed escort helicopters as a new conceptual edition of the glider . Therefore, infantry that was air landed was also referred to as air cavalry . The 101st Airborne Division took on this task . The United States Army maintains with the XVIII. US Airborne Corps continues to have large airmobile forces. The main component of this airborne corps are three air-transportable infantry divisions, including the 10th US Mountain Division .
The Bundeswehr has with the 23rd Mountain Infantry Brigade and the paratroopers , formerly the two airborne brigades 26 and 31 , today Airborne Brigade 1 over with helicopters airmobile infantry. The Bundeswehr has been implementing the concept of air cavalry since 2006 with Jägerregiment 1 , subordinated to Airmobile Brigade 1 . The infantry component should be supported in combat by the Eurocopter Tiger . In the airmobile brigade, the helicopters were an organic part of the large unit, in contrast to the assignment according to requirements in the previous concept of paratroopers made airmobile with helicopters of the Army Aviation Corps regiments. The from this u. a. The emerged fighter battalions of the mechanized brigades and the Franco-German brigade can only be airlifted without their GTK Boxer and TPz Fuchs, which are part of the combat equipment.
Structure and order
The infantry, which can be airborne by helicopters, can be deployed more quickly than infantry with wheels and chains, regardless of the terrain and offers the possibility of surprisingly attacking an enemy deeper in the enemy area, and can occupy important parts of the terrain such as a bridge or a mountain pass and prevent enemy supplies and reinforcements tie.
equipment
The equipment is adapted to the limited loading capacity of aircraft such as the Wiesel weapon carrier vehicle and the ESK Mungo .
