TYPES OF AEROSPACE MISSIONS:

AIR SUPERIORITY
Controlling any given airspace by establishing a perimeter of fighters capable of engaging and destroying any attempted intrusion by enemy aerospacecraft. Air Superiority fighters require heavy air-to-air weapons capacity, quick turn-around times, short warm-up periods, good ACM, and ability to absorb damage.

AEROSPACE CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE
This mission involves tracking all aerospace craft in a given area and coordinating friendly forces in their engagement of unidentified or hostile forces. Aircraft for this mission are usually highly specialized, very expensive, heavily targeted by enemy forces, and crewed by several pilots and specialists.

CLOSE AIR SUPPORT (CAS)
The use of aerospace power to attack hostile ground forces already in contact with friendly troops, or on the point of engaging them. CAS requires low-speed manuverability, ability to engage multiple ground targets, and heavy protection against ground fire.

COMBAT AIR PATROL (CAP)
Defending an area by maintaining a constant aerospace presence of patrolling aircraft. CAP fighters require long loiter times, good air-to-air weapons capacity, good ACM ability, long-range sensors, and high endurance.

ELECTRONIC INTELLIGENCE GATHERING (ELINT)
ELINT describes any of several types of surveillance missions that involve aerospace craft in position near enemy lines (or covertly behind enemy lines) conducting passive reconnaisance. This usually involves intercepting enemy communications and/or transmissions/emissions (hence the name). Although, it can often mean simply monitoring enemy troop or aerospace craft movements.

ESCORT
Aerospace craft often escort larger auxiliary craft, shuttles, or even starship convoys. This duty usually ends up as a combination of CAP and Interceptor missions, with a constantly changing patrol/response area. If the force being escorted does not include a carrier, the aerospace craft involved require a greater range than the ships being escorted (so they have surplus fuel to prosecute contacts). Otherwise, a series of escort flights must provide the escort in series.

INTERCEPTION
Use of aerospace craft to advance ahead of a main force or base to identify and, if necessary, engage unidentified ot hostile aerospacecraft or starships. Requires high speed, extended range, long-range weapons and sensor capability, and aerospace combat manuevering (ACM) ability.

INTERDICTION
The use of aerospace power to deny enemy forces access to an area, planet, system, etc. This can be an air-to-ground mission as in keeping enemy infantry from their supply lines; or it may be an air-to-air mission keeping enemy aerospace units from reinforcing or supporting their allied ground or air units.

MILITARY AIRLIFT
Aerospace transport craft move personnel and supplies to any area in the most efficient way possible. Airlift craft require great cargo capacity and long range. These craft usually have crews of more than one, and may even have duplicate crews to relieve each other on long flights.

RECONNAISANCE
Recon is similar to ELINT, but is more active. This involves aerospace craft overflying an area and collecting active sensor data. This data is then fed to intelligence analysts who can then update enemy force strength estimates and response scenarios.

SEARCH AND RESCUE (SAR)
Downed pilots or ground forces separated and trapped behind enemy lines are found and extracted by SAR teams. Craft used in SAR missions must have excellent sensors, long loiter times, extra crew capacity for rescuees, and a certain stealthiness to the craft is also helpful.

SPECIAL OPERATIONS
Special Ops is a catch-all category of missions that range from covert personnel insertion/extraction to specialized ELINT missions, to stealthy tactical strikes. Most missions are classified, and so are many Special Ops aerospace craft.

STRIKE
Strike missions are air-to-ground scenarios that involve tactical or strategic attacks on ground targets, usually in advance of ground troops or even in their total absence. Strike craft usually have a large air-to-ground weapon capacity, medium to long range, stealth technology, and high speed capability.