Aerial ramming

Aerial ramming or air ramming is the deliberate ramming of an aircraft in flight into another airborne target, typically another aircraft. It is a last-ditch tactic in aerial combat, sometimes used when the aircraft is out of munitions, has its weapons malfunctioned, or all else has failed. The act of ramming a flying aircraft into surface targets (e.g. tall buildings/structures, ground fortifications and surface vessels), usually in the form of a suicide attack, is commonly referred to as a kamikaze attack. Long before the invention of aircraft, ramming tactics in naval warfare and ground warfare were common. The first aerial ramming was performed by Pyotr Nesterov in 1914 during the First World War. In the early stages of World War II the tactic was employed by Soviet pilots, who called it taran (таран) , the Russian word for 'ramming" and "battering ram". A ramming pilot could use the weight of the aircraft as a ram, or they could try to make the enemy lose control of their plane, using the propeller or wing to damage the enemy's tail or wing. Ramming took place when a pilot ran out of ammunition yet was still intent on destroying an enemy, or when the plane had already been damaged beyond saving. Most rammings occurred when the attacker's aircraft was economically, strategically or tactically less valuable than the enemy's, such as pilots flying obsolescent aircraft against superior ones, or one man risking his life to kill multiple men. Defending forces resorted to ramming more often than the attackers. A ramming attack was not considered suicidal in the same manner as kamikaze attacks—the ramming pilot stood a chance of surviving, though it was very risky. Sometimes the ramming aircraft itself could survive to make a controlled landing, though most were lost due to combat damage...