Air force An air force , also known in some countries as an air army , is in the broadest sense , the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare . More specifically , it is the branch of a nation ' s armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army , navy or other branch . Typically , air forces are responsible for gaining control of the air , carrying out strategic and tactical bombing missions and providing support to surface forces . The term " air force " may also refer to a tactical air force or numbered air force , which is an operational formation either within a national air force or comprising several air components from allied nations . Air forces typically consist of a combination of fighters , bomber s , helicopter s , transport planes and other aircraft . Many air forces are also responsible for operations of military , intercontinental ballistic missile s ( ICBM ) , and communications equipment . Some air forces may command and control other air defence assets such as antiaircraft artillery , surface - to - air missile s , or anti - ballistic missile warning networks and defensive systems . Some nations , principally Russia , the former Soviet Union and countries who modelled their militaries along Soviet lines , have an Air Defence Force which is organizationally separate from their air force . In addition to pilots , air forces have ground support staff who support the aircrew . In a similar manner to civilian airlines , there are supporting ground crew as pilots cannot fly without the assistance of other personnel such as engineers , loadmasters , fuel technicians and mechanics . However , some supporting personnel such as airfield defence troops , weapons engineers and air intelligence staff do not have equivalent roles in civilian organizations . History . Heavier - than - air military aircraft . Balloon or flying corps are not generally regarded as examples of an air force . However , with the invention of heavier - than - air craft in the early 20th century , armies and navies began to take interest in this new form of aviation as a means to wage war . The first aviation force in the world was the Aviation Militaire of the French Army formed in 1910 , which eventually became L ' Armée de l ' Air . In 1911 , during the Italo - Turkish War , Italy employed aircraft for the first time ever in the world for reconnaissance and bombing missions against Turkish positions on Libyan Territory . The Italian – Turkish war of 1911 – 1912 was the first in history that featured air attacks by airplanes and dirigible airships . During World War I France , Germany , Italy , British Empire and the Ottoman Empire all possessed significant forces of bomber s and fighter s . World War I also saw the appearance of senior commanders who directed aerial warfare and numerous flying aces . Independent air forces . An independent air force is one which is a separate branch of a nation ' s armed forces and is , at least nominally , treated as a military service on par with that of older services like navies or armies . The British Royal Air Force was the first independent air force in the world . The RAF was founded on 1 April 1918 by amalgamation the British Army ' s Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service . On establishment the RAF comprised over 20 , 000 aircraft , was commanded by a Chief of the Air Staff who held the rank of Major General and was governed by its own government ministry ( the Air Ministry ) . Over the following decades most countries with any substantial military capability established their own independent air forces . The South African Air Force was formed on 1 February 1920 and the Australian Air Force was formed shortly afterwards on 31 March 1921 , although it was not until 1922 that the head of the Service was titled as Chief of the Air Staff , placing him on a par with his Australian Army and Navy counterparts . The Canadian Air Force was formed at the end of World War I , and was abolished and reorganized several times between 1918 and 1924 . It became the permanent Royal Canadian Air Force when it received the " Royal " title by royal proclamation on 1 April 1924 . It did not however become independent of the Canadian Army until 1938 when its head was also designated as Chief of the Air Staff . The Finnish Air Force was established as a separate service on 4 May 1928 and the United States Air Force was formed as a separate branch of the American military on 18 September 1947 . The Israeli Air Force came into being the with the State of Israel on 18 May 1948 , but evolved from the pre - existing Sherut Avir ( Air Service ) of the Haganah paramilitary . The Japan Air Self - Defense Force was not established until 1954 ; in World War II Japanese military aviation had been carried out by the Army and Navy . Unlike all these countries , the Mexican Air Force remains an integral part of the Mexican Army . The world wars . World War I . Germany was the first country to organize regular air attacks on enemy infrastructure with the Luftstreitkräfte . In World War I it used its zeppelin s ( airship s ) to drop bombs on British cities . At that time , Britain did have aircraft , though her airships were less advanced than the zeppelins and were very rarely used for attacking ; instead they were usually used to spy on German U - boat s ( submarine s ) . Fixed - wing aircraft at the time were quite primitive , being able to achieve velocities comparable to that of modern automobiles and mounting minimal weaponry and equipment . Aerial services were still largely a new venture , and relatively unreliable machines and limited training resulted in stupendously low life expectancies for early military aviators . World War II . By the time World War II began , planes had become much safer , faster and more reliable . They were adopted as standard for bombing raids and taking out other aircraft because they were much faster than airships . The world ' s largest military Air Force by the start of the Second World War in 1939 was the Soviet Red Air Force , and although much depleted , it would stage the largest air operations of WWII over the four years of combat with the German Luftwaffe . Arguably the war ' s most important air operation , known as the Battle of Britain , took place during 1940 over Britain and the English Channel between Britain ' s Royal Air Force and Germany ' s Luftwaffe over a period of several months . In the end Britain emerged victorious , and this caused Adolf Hitler to give up his plan to invade Britain . Other prominent air force operations during the Second World War include the Allied bombing of Germany during 1942 – 1944 , and the Red Air Force operations in support of strategic ground offensive s on the Eastern Front . The aerial warfare in Pacific Ocean theatre was of a comparable strategic significance to the Battle of Britain but was largely conducted by the US and Japanese naval aviation services and not by air forces . Strategic bombing . The air force ' s role of strategic bombing against enemy infrastructures was developed during the 1930s by the Japanese in China and by the Germans during the Spanish Civil War . This role for the bomber was perfected during World War II , during Allied " Thousand Bomber Raid " operations . The need to intercept these bombers , both during the day and at night , accelerated fighter aircraft developments . The war ended when United States Army Air Forces Boeing B - 29 Superfortress bombers dropped two atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945 . Post World War II . The United States Air Force finally became an independent service in 1947 . As the Cold War began , both the USAF and the Soviet Air Force built up their nuclear - capable strategic bomber forces . Several technological advances were widely introduced during this time : the jet engine ; the missile ; the helicopter ; and inflight refueling . During the 1960s , Canada took the unusual step of merging the Royal Canadian Air Force with the army and the navy to form the unified Canadian Forces , with air assets divided between several commands and a green uniform for everyone . This proved very unpopular , and in 1975 Canadian aviation units were rebrigaded under a single organization ( Air Command ) with a single commander . In 2011 the Canadian Forces Air Command reverted to its pre - 1960s name , the Royal Canadian Air Force . Perhaps the latest air force to become independent is the Irish Air Corps , which changed its uniform from army green to blue in the 1990s . Organization . The organizational structures of air forces vary between nations : some air forces ( such as the United States Air Force , the Royal Air Force ) are divided into commands , groups and squadrons ; others ( such as the Soviet Air Force ) have an Army - style organizational structure . The modern Canadian Forces Air Command uses Air Division as the formation between wings and the entire air command . Like the RAF , Canadian wings consist of squadrons . In the case of China the Air Force headquarters consists of four departments : Command , Political , Logistic , and Equipment , which mirrors the four general departments of the People ' s Liberation Army . Below the headquarters , Military Region Air Forces ( MRAF ) direct divisions ( Fighter , Attack , Bomber ) , which in turn direct regiments and squadrons . Air armies . Several countries title their air force " Air Army " , notably France and Spain . In such countries the army is officially called the " Land Army " , although in common usage " army " retains its meaning of a land force . However , in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation the term " Air Army " also refers to a military formation , and during WWII eighteen Air Armies operated as part of the Red Army Order of Battle as the Soviet Air Forces in World War II . The Air Armies were divided into the air forces of the military district PVO , the Frontal Aviation Air Armies assigned one to each Front , and the Anti - Air Defence Armies that included anti - aircraft gun s and interceptor s .