Airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via aircraft . Airlifting consists of two distinct types , strategic and tactical airlifting . Typically , strategic airlifting involves moving materiel long distances ( such as across or off the continent or theater ) , whereas a tactical airlift focuses on deploying resources and material into a specific location with high precision . Depending on the situation , airlifted supplies can be delivered by a variety of means . When the destination and surrounding airspace is considered secure , the aircraft will land at an appropriate airport or airbase to have its cargo unloaded on the ground . When landing the craft , or distributing the supplies to a certain area from a landing zone by surface transportation is not an option , the cargo aircraft can drop them in mid - flight using parachute s attached to the supply containers in question . When there is a broad area available where the intended receivers have control without fear of the enemy interfering with collection and / or stealing the goods , the planes can maintain a normal flight altitude and simply drop the supplies down and let them parachute to the ground . However , when the area is too small for this method , as with an isolated base , and / or is too dangerous to land in , a Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System drop is used . History . In April 1923 aircraft of the RAF ' s Iraq Command flew 280 Sikh troops from Kingarban to Kirkuk in the first British air trooping operation . This operation was only conducted over a short range and it was not until 1929 that the RAF conducted a long - range non - combat air evacuation of British diplomatic staff from Afghanistan to India using a Vickers Victoria during the Kabul Airlift . . . The world ' s first long - range combat airlift took place in July 1936 . Luftwaffe Ju 52 and Italian Air Force Savoia - Marchetti SM . 81 were used by the Spanish Nationalists to transport troops from Spanish Morocco to Spain at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War . Airlifts became practical during World War II as aircraft became large and sophisticated enough to handle large cargo demands . The USAAF ' s Air Transport Command began the largest and longest - sustained airlift of the war in May 1942 , delivering more than half a million net tons of materiel from India to China over the Hump by November 1945 . The largest airlift was the Berlin airlift , lasting from June 1948 to September 1949 , an American , British and French operation intended to thwart the blockading of the city of Berlin by the Soviet Union . The largest civilian airlift ever , the Biafran airlift , was carried out by Protestant and Catholic churches working together under the banner " Joint Church Aid " ( JCA ) to carry food to Biafra , during the Biafran secession war from Nigeria in 1967 - 70 . This joint effort ( which those involved used to call " Jesus Christ Airlines " as an inside joke from the initials JCA ) is estimated to have saved more than a million lives in Biafra . All airplanes departed from the ( by then ) Portuguese colony of St . Tome and Principe and used to fly by night , all lights off and avoiding Nigerian Migs to the bush landing strip of Uli , made by enlarging a common road , the only operational " airport " in Biafra . All the airplanes , crews and logistics were paid , set up and maintained by the joint churches . Joint Churches and their crews and aircraft ( mostly aging multiprop airliners like DC - 7 ' s , Lockheed Constellation and Superconstellations , DC - 6 ' s , even some DC3 ) kept flying into Biafra at the cost of many crews lives . Strategic airlift . Strategic airlift is the use of cargo aircraft to transport materiel , weapon ry , or personnel over long distances . Typically , this involves airlifting the required items between two airbases which are not in the same vicinity . This allows commander s to bring items into a combat theater from a point on the other side of the planet , if necessary . Aircraft which perform this role are considered strategic airlifters . This contrasts with tactical airlifters , such as the C - 130 Hercules and Transall C - 160 , which can normally only move supplies within a given theater of operations . Examples of late 20th / early 21st Century large strategic airlifters include : That being said , with present technology it is impossible even for the United States to shift a substantial mechanised force , particularly tank s , by air . This difficulty has prompted investment from the US military in lighter armoured fighting vehicles ( such as the Stryker ) , as well as some preliminary research into alternative airlift technologies such as ground effect vehicles and airship s . Tactical airlift . Tactical airlift is a military term for the airborne transportation of supplies and equipment " within " a theatre of operations ( in contrast to strategic airlift ) . Aircraft which perform this role are referred to as tactical airlifters . These are typically turboprop aircraft , and feature short landing and take - off distances and low - pressure tires allowing operations from small or poorly - prepared airstrips . While they lack the speed and range of strategic airlifters ( which are typically jet - powered ) , these capabilities are invaluable within war zones . Larger helicopter s such as the CH - 47 Chinook and Mil Mi - 26 can also be used to airlift men and equipment . Helicopters have the advantage that they do not require a landing strip and that equipment can often be suspended below the aircraft allowing it to be delivered without landing but are highly inefficient . Tactical airlift aircraft are designed to be maneuverable , allowing low - altitude flight to avoid detection by radar and for the airdrop ping of supplies . Most are fitted with defensive aids systems to protect them from attack by surface - to - air missiles . The earliest Soviet tactical airlift occurred in 1929 , in which forty men of the Red Army were airlifted to the town of Garm , Tajikistan ( then the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic ) to repel an attacking force of Basmachi rebels under Fuzail Maksum . Examples of late 20th / early 21st Century large tactical airlifters include : Airlifter comparison . Airlifters in service during the late 20th / early 21st Centuries :