Ramming

(1) A method of air combat used after all ammunition has been expended, in which a pilot strikes an enemy airplane with a propeller or wing of his own aircraft. Ramming was first used in World War I by the Russian military pilot P. N. Nes-terov on Aug. 26 (Sept. 8), 1914. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–15, Soviet pilots brought down a considerable number of enemy airplanes by ramming.

(2) A combat method consisting in delivering a direct blow to enemy armored vehicles, usually by a heavy-tank body. Ramming was used when it was impossible to destroy enemy armored vehicles by firing on them.