The US which has maximised the use of different aerial platforms as special mission aircraft for such roles have gone to the extent of defining the air travel tasks of its national leadership as special air missions

In the dead of a tranquil winter night, none of the Al-Qaeda terrorists would have known in their dying moments as to what came tearing from the skies above, smashing into their vehicle, exploding with the force of a powerful bomb, rending men and machine to smithereens. The fatal blow came from a US Special Mission aircraft—a heavily modified AC-130 Spectre gunship performing the role of an airborne howitzer—in a remote village, in support of Allied Special Forces during the ongoing operation, Enduring Freedom, in Afghanistan. Close air support roles include supporting ground troops, escorting convoys and flying urban operations. The gunship squadrons are part of the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), a component of United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

These aircraft typically operate in the denied areas. In this context, perhaps the oldest US AFSOC mission is delivering and supporting special operators behind enemy lines, a function that began as early as in the Second World War. But that is just one part of the ever widening roles being performed by the ‘special mission’ aircraft in the exercise of modern day combat and noncombat aerial tasks.

In a wider sense, combat roles could include strategic (special) reconnaissance, unconventional warfare such as induction/extrication of Special Forces personnel into and out of dedicated combat zones using different techniques like direct landings/take-offs, para-trooping including with high altitude high opening/high altitude low opening (HAHO/HALO) parachutes, use of gunships as airborne artillery, combat search and rescue (CSAR), airborne early warning/and control systems (AEW/AWACS), in-flight refuelling, special maritime patrol, unmanned reconnaissance and attack, psychological and information warfare, etc.

Some major non-combat special missions could encompass humanitarian assistance including disaster management, meteorological monitoring, aerial fire-fighting, etc. The US which has maximised the use of different aerial platforms as special mission aircraft for such roles have gone to the extent of defining the air travel tasks of its national leadership as special air missions. The USAF’s VC-25s, a pair of heavily modified Boeing 747-200B for Presidential air travel, and bearing a Call-sign ‘Air Force One’ when the US President is on board, are the world’s most famous aircraft.

During the Cold War era, the United States played a leading role in developing and deploying ‘special mission’ aerial platforms to perform a plethora of roles. No military aviation enthusiast can ever forget the US spy planes such as the U-2 for carrying out strategic reconnaissance over the Soviet territories and when one was brought down by a SAM-II missile, replacing it with the uncatchable and invincible SR-71Black Bird, which at Mach 3+ capability still holds the record of the fastest manned aircraft ever produced. The US also mastered the art of not only developing but also converting large-bodied civil airliners and military cargo aircraft to perform myriad special mission roles. Some examples are.