The collection of events in which aircraft attack a tangible thing target. An aerial attack may include, and is not restricted to, bombing, strafing, and launching of missiles by aircraft. A special case would be a 'kamikaze' attack. The object of the attack may be a target on the ground, a naval target on or in water, a geographical region, or another aircraft. It also may include the use of destructive weapons by an aircraft in self-defense, as well as offensive missions. Non-examples: a reconnaissance mission. Note, however, that a single military aircraft mission could incorporate a reconnaissance mission and an aerial attack as distinct temporal subabstractions: if, for example, a reconnaissance flight were fired upon and responded by launching a missile, the reconnaissance mission would effectively turn into an aerial attack.--Meyer, Feb 23, 1999