air cover

noun

: protection by armed military airplanes
They had to land in enemy territory without any air cover.

Examples of air cover in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The F-16s can provide air cover for troops, attack ground targets, take on enemy planes and intercept missiles. Radina Gigova, CNN, 4 Aug. 2024 Trump will have air cover as the campaign season kicks into high gear. Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 9 July 2024 Meanwhile, coalition air and missile defense forces would prevent China from providing the air cover needed to support the PLA’s assault, and electronic warfare and cyber-forces would frustrate the PLA’s efforts to control communications in and around the battlefield. Andrew F. Krepinevich, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023 But a lack of appropriate air cover has been the biggest stumbling block, Menon added, with Ukraine’s air force vastly outnumbered and overpowered by Russia’s. Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 3 Dec. 2023 But Saturday’s assault was relatively limited in scale, suggesting that the attacks might instead have been part of what military analysts and Ukrainian army officials say is an effort by Russia to test Ukrainian air cover through multiple, but small-scale attacks. Constant Méheut, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2023 As a result, no one there sensed the immediate need for a massive, rapid air cover, even as social media emerged with reports of attacks in many communities. Patrick Kingsley, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2023 Ukrainian forces are advancing without air cover, making their progress harder and slower, while Russia has launched its own push in the northeast to pin down Ukrainian forces and prevent them being redeployed in the south. Samya Kullab, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023 Ukraine hopes the jets give it a combat edge, after launching a counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery. Mike Corder and Karl Ritter, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'air cover.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Air cover.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/air%20cover. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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