Air gunner

{{Short description|Member of a military aircrew}}

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File:Waist Gunner in Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943.jpg B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943]]

Image:Tu-95 tail.jpg tail gun position with 23 mm AM-23 autocannon]]

An air gunner or aerial gunner is a member of a military aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft.{{cite book |title=The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military |chapter=Aerial gunner |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199891580 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199891580.001.0001/acref-9780199891580-e-141|access-date= 12 February 2024 |quote=Aerial gunner - a U.S. Air Force enlisted specialty assigned to personnel trained to operate flexible guns mounted on aircraft.}} Modern aircraft weapons are usually operated automatically without the need for a dedicated air gunner, but older generation (World War II and earlier) bombers used to carry up to eight air gunners.

Most modern air gunners are helicopter door gunners, who typically have other primary roles such as crew chief or observer in addition to their air gunner role. Others fly as members of aircrews on gunships, where their duties may include loading guns or manually firing them if computer systems fail. A modern gunner can be someone who operates armament on an aircraft besides the pilot or someone defending the aircraft with a machine gun or auto-cannon (more commonly in World War II)