air-to-air
adjective
: launched from one airplane in flight at another
air-to-air missiles
also
: involving aircraft in flight
air-to-air combat
Examples of air-to-air in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
One of the fighter jets shot down the Turkish drone with an air-to-air missile, the officials said.
—
Courtney Kube, NBC News, 5 Oct. 2023
Early in the war, Kyiv and many of its supporters called for a no-fly zone, but Western leaders refused to impose one, fearing an air-to-air clash between NATO and Russian aircraft.
—Austin Carson, Foreign Affairs, 14 Sep. 2023
Western governments continue to explore the possibility that an air-to-air missile could have been used, even if an explosion on board remained the more likely scenario.
—Robin Stein, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2023
Lacy made another name for himself in Hollywood, photographing air-to-air scenes in movies such as Top Gun, The Great Santini, and Armageddon.
—Eric Tegler, Popular Mechanics, 21 July 2023
So our near-term focus will be on ensuring a uniformly strong connection throughout the route, for both air-to-ground and air-to-air communications.
—Kamesh Namuduri, IEEE Spectrum, 8 July 2023
The jet will likely be multi-role, capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, but with capabilities skewed somewhat toward air superiority.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 7 July 2023
Despite seeing plenty of combat duty in the Middle East and Balkans—including claiming two air-to-air kills, though one loss was also suffered to an Iraqi MiG-25—the FA-18 Hornet didn’t last particularly long in service due to the emergence of the enlarged FA-18E/F Super Hornet jet.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 23 June 2023
Two other formations flew above him, at 15,000 feet and 20,000 feet, over more than an hour of maneuvers, air-to-air refueling drills and mid-flight photo ops.
—Lara Jakes, New York Times, 12 June 2023
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Courtney Kube, NBC News, 5 Oct. 2023
Early in the war, Kyiv and many of its supporters called for a no-fly zone, but Western leaders refused to impose one, fearing an air-to-air clash between NATO and Russian aircraft.
—Austin Carson, Foreign Affairs, 14 Sep. 2023
Western governments continue to explore the possibility that an air-to-air missile could have been used, even if an explosion on board remained the more likely scenario.
—Robin Stein, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2023
Lacy made another name for himself in Hollywood, photographing air-to-air scenes in movies such as Top Gun, The Great Santini, and Armageddon.
—Eric Tegler, Popular Mechanics, 21 July 2023
So our near-term focus will be on ensuring a uniformly strong connection throughout the route, for both air-to-ground and air-to-air communications.
—Kamesh Namuduri, IEEE Spectrum, 8 July 2023
The jet will likely be multi-role, capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, but with capabilities skewed somewhat toward air superiority.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 7 July 2023
Despite seeing plenty of combat duty in the Middle East and Balkans—including claiming two air-to-air kills, though one loss was also suffered to an Iraqi MiG-25—the FA-18 Hornet didn’t last particularly long in service due to the emergence of the enlarged FA-18E/F Super Hornet jet.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 23 June 2023
Two other formations flew above him, at 15,000 feet and 20,000 feet, over more than an hour of maneuvers, air-to-air refueling drills and mid-flight photo ops.
—Lara Jakes, New York Times, 12 June 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'air-to-air.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1939, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near air-to-air
Cite this Entry
“Air-to-air.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/air-to-air. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.
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