Ground-attack (or close-support) aircraft are designed to loiter over a battlefield and attack tactical targets, such as tanks, troop concentrations, etc. Examples: Stuka, Il-2 Sturmovik[?], A-10 Warthog, Sukhoi Su-25[?].
Attack aircraft (aka fighter-bombers) are multirole combat aircraft which can be equipped for either air-to-air combat or air-to-ground combat. Examples: Hawker Typhoon, F/A-18 Hornet and the Panavia Tornado.
Strategic bombers often have some defensive armament, but they are not designed to engage in combat with other aircraft. They are relatively large, slow, and unmanoeuvrable. If enemy air opposition is expected, bombers must be escorted. Attack aircraft are smaller, faster, and more agile, but less-so than a fighter when armed for a ground attack mission, and carry insufficient air-to-air weaponry for protracted combat unless loaded specifically for an air-to-air mission. Typically, combat aircraft intended for ground attack duties are camouflaged in the colours of vegetation whilst interceptors and aircraft intended for "dogfighting" other airplanes at altitude are finished in light blues or greys, so that their presence and trajectory are harder to see against the sky.
(insert a bit here about the development of bombers)
