Imperial Air Force (Tagmatium)
The Imperial Air Force, known in Laimiaic as the Basilikoaeroporia and in Anglish as the Tagmatine Air Force, is the aerial warfare component of the Tagmatine Armed Forces. It is the youngest of the three main service branches. The use of observation or reconnaissance balloons dates back to the late 1700s, although the use was not widespread across Europa or the rest of Eurth until almost a century later. The Imperial Air Force started at first during this later period, when artillery observation was becoming more complex due to the increased range of weapons and the need to observe the movement of enemy troops from significant distances. When the internal combustion engine became widely available, the Tagmatine High Command offered a cash prize to the first person able to do it and the pioneer Ioannes Glauketes was able to carry out in 1906. However, the High Command had been stung by a string of charlatans and they did follow it further. Within ten years, however, it was clear that military heavier-than-air aircraft was a necessity and "Aerostato Kontoubernia", the Balloon Platoons, of the artillery were authorised to start investigating aeroplanes. By 1921, these units had evolved into the Imperial Air Force, as military necessity and utility of not just observer aircraft but combat aircraft was clear.
In the modern era, the Imperial Air Force is the ground-based aerial warfare branch of the Tagmatine Armed Forces. Its mission is to maintain local air supremacy over Tagmatium, through combat air patrols and the use of one of Eurth's most sophisticated integrated air defence systems. It is also to act in support of the Imperial Army and, to a lesser extent, the Imperial Navy in both defensive and offensive actions and operations, and to gain and hold air supremacy over their areas of operation. The Imperial Air Force operates all ground-based aircraft in the Tagmatine Armed Forces, bar some numbers of naval aircraft or those belonging to the Border Guard and Financial Guard. This means that the Imperial Army and Air Force have a history of close cooperation in mutually supporting roles. The aircraft that the Imperial Air Force uses includes air superiority and multi-role fighters, ground attack aircraft, specialist suppression of enemy air defence aircraft, transport aircraft, airborne early warning and control aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft. They can also conduct long-range strikes against enemy targets across Europa and Argis, although the last of the Imperial Air Force's strategic bombers were retired in 2010.
The Imperial Air Force also has two branches of ground-based combat forces, the Peltastoi and the Thorakritai. The Peltastoi is a small corps of paratroops that tends to be utilised in a more defensive fashion than those of other nations, usually paradropping in support of existing positions. The Thorakritai are the air force ground forces of the Imperial Air Force. They are equipped as standard Tagmatine infantry. They undertake force protection, combat search and rescue as well as other roles.
