air cover
noun
: protection by armed military airplanes
They had to land in enemy territory without any air cover.
Examples of air cover in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The soldiers were expecting air cover from the Americans.
—
Mo Rocca, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026
Drones and jets provided air cover, striking Iranian forces that came near.
—The Week Uk, TheWeek, 11 Apr. 2026
Fighters provided air cover, bombers dropped hundreds of bombs to suppress defenses and keep the Iranians distracted.
—David Hambling, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2026
Asked whether the United States would provide air cover for a Kurdish offensive, Trump declined to elaborate.
—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 5 Mar. 2026
By providing only air cover for the rebels, our intervention left the situation on the ground to the local competing forces, tribes and militias, which were divided then and remain divided to this day.
—Thomas L. Friedman, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026
Shifting air cover from site to site over vast distances takes time.
—Tatiana Mitrova, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2025
There is more discussion now about part of the security guarantee coming in the form of air cover for Ukraine, a little like the no-fly zones over Iraq back in the 1990s that were designed to prevent attacks by Saddam Hussein’s forces on minorities.
—Tim Lister, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2025
Without clear American involvement in such an operation — with American air cover, air defenses and intelligence, both human and technical — European troops would be at serious risk from Russian probing and even attacks.
—Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2025
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Mo Rocca, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026
Drones and jets provided air cover, striking Iranian forces that came near.
—The Week Uk, TheWeek, 11 Apr. 2026
Fighters provided air cover, bombers dropped hundreds of bombs to suppress defenses and keep the Iranians distracted.
—David Hambling, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2026
Asked whether the United States would provide air cover for a Kurdish offensive, Trump declined to elaborate.
—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 5 Mar. 2026
By providing only air cover for the rebels, our intervention left the situation on the ground to the local competing forces, tribes and militias, which were divided then and remain divided to this day.
—Thomas L. Friedman, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026
Shifting air cover from site to site over vast distances takes time.
—Tatiana Mitrova, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2025
There is more discussion now about part of the security guarantee coming in the form of air cover for Ukraine, a little like the no-fly zones over Iraq back in the 1990s that were designed to prevent attacks by Saddam Hussein’s forces on minorities.
—Tim Lister, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2025
Without clear American involvement in such an operation — with American air cover, air defenses and intelligence, both human and technical — European troops would be at serious risk from Russian probing and even attacks.
—Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Air cover.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/air%20cover. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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