Why are airplanes so important in modern warfare? After all, they do not carry a lot of weapons with them and can be an easy target for missiles
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Airplanes are highly mobile. An hours drive for a tank might be a 5 minute flight for a jet aircraft. That means that for defence a single airport can deploy airplanes to respond to an attack along a very long front line. And for attacks you can deploy aircraft without warning the enemy ahead of time and even deploy the aircraft in response to a breakthrough. The speed also makes up for their low ammunition count as an aircraft can return to base to refuel and rearm and be back on the front lines much faster then for example a tank.
Airplanes also have a long weapons range. Firstly their altitude means that they can see an enemy who would normally be hidden behind a hill or beyond the horizon from someone standing on the ground. In order to shoot something you first need to see them. And secondly the missiles start with the altitude and speed of the airplane so they do not have to spend fuel getting up to those speeds and altitudes. Less fuel usage means more distance.
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