Editing Interceptor aircraft (section)

===Point-defense interceptors===

{{anchor|Point defense}}
{{further information|Point-defence}}
[[File:Lightning.inflight.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|right|[[Royal Air Force|RAF]] [[English Electric Lightning]] point defense interceptor]]
In the spectrum of various interceptors, one design approach especially shows sacrifices necessary to achieve decisive benefit in a chosen aspect of performance. A "point defense interceptor" is<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mladenov|first1=Alexander|title=Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21.|date=20 June 2014|publisher=Random House|location=[S.l.]|isbn=978-1782003748|page=5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-AWgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> of a lightweight design, intended to spend most of its time on the ground located at the defended target, and able to launch on demand, climb to altitude, manoeuvre and then attack the bomber in a very short time, before the bomber can deploy its weapons.

At the end of Second World War, the ''[[Luftwaffe]]''{{'}}s most critical requirement was for interceptors as the Commonwealth and American air forces pounded German targets night and day. As the bombing effort grew, notably in early 1944, the Luftwaffe introduced a rocket-powered design, the [[Messerschmitt Me 163]] ''Komet'', in the very-short-range interceptor role. The engine allowed about 7 minutes of powered flight, but offered such tremendous performance that they could fly right by the defending fighters.<ref name=Parker>{{cite book|author1=Danny S. Parker|author2=S Parker|title=To Win The Winter Sky|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bvgtSypPpesC|year=2007|publisher=Da Capo Press, Incorporated|isbn=978-0-306-81689-5}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Me 163 required an airbase, however, which were soon under constant attack. Following the [[Emergency Fighter Program]], the Germans developed even odder designs, such as the [[Bachem Ba 349]] ''Natter'', which launched vertically and thus eliminated the need for an airbase. In general all these initial German designs proved difficult to operate, often becoming death traps for their pilots,<ref name=Parker /> and had little effect on the bombing raids. Rocket-boosted variants of both of Germany's jet fighters; the [[Messerschmitt Me 262#Variants|Me 262]] in its "C" subtype series, all nicknamed "home protector" (''Heimatschützer'', in four differing formats) and the planned [[Heinkel He 162#Variants|He 162]]E subtype, using one of the same [[BMW 003#"Mixed-power" upgrade|BMW 003R turbojet/rocket "mixed-power" engine]] as the Me 262C-2b ''Heimatschützer II'',  but were never produced in quantity.

In the initial stage of [[Cold War]], bombers were expected to attack flying higher and faster, even at [[transonic]] speeds. Initial transonic and supersonic fighters had modest internal fuel tanks in their slim fuselages, but a very high fuel consumption. This led fighter prototypes emphasizing acceleration and operational ceiling, with a sacrifice on the loiter time, essentially limiting them to point defense role. Such were the mixed jet/rocket power [[Republic XF-91]] or [[Saunders Roe SR.53]]. The Soviet and Western trials with [[zero-length launch]] were also related. None of these found practical use. Designs that depended solely on jet engines achieved more success with the [[F-104 Starfighter]] (initial A version) and the [[English Electric Lightning]].

The role of crewed point defense designs was reassigned to uncrewed interceptors—[[surface-to-air missile]]s (SAMs)—which first reached an adequate level in 1954–1957.<ref>In 1954 the first systems were deployed operationally, such as [[Nike Ajax]] or [[S-25 Berkut]]. The year 1957 marked the deployment of [[SA-75 Dvina]].</ref> SAM advancements ended the concept of massed high-altitude bomber operations, in favor of [[Penetrator (aircraft)|penetrators]] (and later [[cruise missiles]]) flying a combination of techniques colloquially known as "flying below the radar". By flying [[terrain masking]] low-altitude [[nap-of-the-earth]] flight profiles the effective range, and therefore reaction time, of ground-based radar was limited to at best the [[radar horizon]]. In the case of ground radar systems this can be countered by placing radar systems on mountain tops to extend the radar horizon, or through placing high performance radars in interceptors or in AWACS aircraft used to direct point defense interceptors.