During World War II, Operation Herkules was the German plan for an airborne invasion of Malta. The concept was approved at a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini on 29-30 April, 1942.

The planning for this attack was extensive. Over a thousand gliders and other aircraft were to cover the assault and drop one Italian and one German airborne division onto the southern portion of the island.

After the initial assault, seventy-thousand Italian troops would land by sea at two points to link up with the paratroops. A number of special operations were to be carried out by Axis commandos to destroy key targets in the hours before the airdrop.

The Regia Marina would be committed to a fleet action to protect the seaborne troops. This attack was to be over five times as large as the airborne attack on Crete.

Scheduled for September it was repeatedly delayed and finally canceled after the Axis defeat at Tobruk on November 13th.