A gunship is a military aircraft armed with heavy aircraft guns, primarily intended for attacking ground targets either as airstrike or as close air support.
An AC-130H gunship from the 16th Special Operations Squadron
The B-25 bomber was heavily armed with 75mm and .50 caliber machine guns.
The AC-47 provided CAS with three port side mounted 7.62 mm miniguns.
The Mil Mi-24 was one of the first dedicated gunship helicopters.
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:Combat aircraft, such as fighters and bombers, are designed to destroy enemy equipment or personnel using their own aircraft ordnance. Combat aircraft are typically developed and procured only by military forces.
Non-combat aircraft, such as transports and tankers are not designed for combat as their primary function, but may carry weapons for self-defense. These mainly operate in support roles, and may be developed by either military forces or civilian organizations.
An F-16 Fighting Falcon (leading), P-51D Mustang (bottom), F-86 Sabre (top), and F-22 Raptor (trailing) fly in a formation representing four generations of American combat aircraft.
A replica of a German Messerschmitt Me 262, one of the first combat aircraft to fly under turbojet power
An F-35 Lightning II multirole stealth fighter operated by the Israeli Air Force
Augusta Westland AH-1 Apache attack helicopter operated by the British Army Air Corps