Aerial ramming has been a staple of air war since the earliest days of the aircraft.
Long before the aircraft was invented, ramming tactics were employed in both naval and ground warfare. As the name suggests, ramming consists of using one vessel’s body to damage another’s body, much like a male ram sheep would head butt another male to establish dominance.
Naturally, the tactic was adopted for aerial warfare, not long after the Wright Brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk. Of course, ramming in the air comes with immediate and obvious complications that ramming between ships does not: aircraft are much more fragile, and while shipwrecks can be survived, air crashes from a great height usually cannot. Consequently, air ramming is typically employed as a last ditch effort, as the ramming pilot’s chances for survival are limited. Let’s take a closer look at aerial ramming, a counterintuitive yet long-practiced tactic of air war.
How to Ram Another Plane and Survive
To be clear, ramming is not the same as kamikaze. In a kamikaze mission, the pilot fully intends to sacrifice his own life upon his aircraft’s impact with its target. In aerial ramming, the pilot typically hopes not to do that—but is forced by the needs of the moment to pursue a desperate and risky attack procedure.
Three types of aerial ramming attack have been identified. The first type of attack is to use the propeller to shop off the tail of an enemy aircraft. The propeller ram is relatively precise and coordinated, requiring the most skill and chance to execute, but leaving the highest chances of survival.
The second type is to use the aircraft wing to damage the enemy aircraft. This is easier to execute than a propeller attack, but harder to survive: an aircraft without a propeller can sometimes glide to the ground, but an aircraft without a wing cannot.
The third type is the direct ram, in which the pilot uses their entire aircraft to ram the enemy’s aircraft. The direct ram is the easiest and most effective against the enemy aircraft. Obviously, though, it is exceptionally rare for the ramming pilot to survive in such a situation—meaning that it was rarely practiced, even during the early days of flight.
The first recorded incident of aerial ramming occurred at the onset of aerial warfare, in World War I, when Soviet pilot Pyotr Nesterov rammed an Austrian Albatross B.11 reconnaissance plane. Nesterov, who was already famed for being the first pilot to ever fly a loop, was not strapped into his Morane-Saulnier Type G, and was ejected, landing on the ground. Nesterov would die from his injuries the following day. The Austrian reconnaissance pilot would die, too.
The Air Force Considered Ramming Attacks on 9/11
Aerial ramming entered the public’s awareness on September 11, 2001, when two Air National Guard F-16s were scrambled, without ordnance, to intercept United Flight 93. With the understanding that United 93 had been hijacked, and would be used in a kamikaze mission upon some landmark in Washington, D.C., the F-16s were tasked with downing the commercial jet. Of course, to down the commercial jet, without ordnance, would require the F-16s to ram United 93. The plan was for one F-16 to ram United 93’s flight deck, while another would ram the tail. Fortunately, the planned ramming mission was not necessary—as passengers aboard United 93 forced their way into the cockpit, causing the jet to crash in a rural area as a result.
Aerial ramming has been a staple of air war since the earliest days of the aircraft. As unmanned aircraft emerge, replacing manned aircraft, will the ramming technique persist as an employed tactic? Almost certainly, given that the life of the ramming pilot will no longer be a factor.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
Image: Shutterstock / Bogdan Vacarciuc.
