The Napalm Strike calls in a U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom II to drop napalm bombs that leave a column of fire and a massive explosion. Five kills (four with Hardline) are needed for this killstreak in multiplayer. The Napalm Strike is also directional, similar to the Precision Airstrike and the Stealth Bomber from Modern Warfare 2. It cannot be shot down or crashed.

Not only will the initial drop take out anyone unlucky enough to get caught in the blast, but the napalm will also continue to burn, incinerating anyone getting too close unless the player has the Pro version of Flak Jacet.

It works well to defend objectives - provided the objective does not possess overhead cover - by creating an area of lethal fire for about 10 seconds.

Due to the aforementioned area of lethal fire, using a Napalm Strike on a small map is a very effective way to funnel opponents into one area. By holding down this area, this killstreak can be used to earn much higher killstreaks very quickly due to the high number of opponents trying to avoid the fire, thereby wandering into the user's trap. Occasionally, bad connection can allow a player to dive-to-prone over an enemy Napalm strike.

Many players also wait until a friendly Spy Plane or Blackbird is up to use their Napalm Strike as this will allow them to see where a majority of the enemies are for maximum effectiveness.

After Title Update 8, Treyarch has made the Napalm Strike nearly incapable of killing players inside buildings, with bad connection, or Nuketown being one of the most experianced cases. 

Trivia 

• The Phantom is based on the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier, as written on its fuselage (USS Kitty Hawk, VF-114 squadron).
• The Napalm Strike is delivered by an F-4 Phantom II.
• The F-4 Phantom that drops the Napalm actually has pilots inside it, albeit very un-detailed and boxy as they are normally not meant to be seen. This can be viewed in Theater mode by pausing the video while the plane enters the map and moving over to it in free-cam.
• One can also find the same models (including pilots) by spectating on the map Firing Range.
• As with Rolling Thunder and Blackbird, Napalm Strikes can not be shot down.
• At the end of the level called Airfield on World at War, multiple F4U Corsairs fly-by, releasing napalm canisters, with the resultant explosion being very similar to the Napalm Strike. It is possible that Treyarch re-used this explosion, or took some inspiration, for the killstreak.
• In most cases, the fire can burn through walls.
• Due to connection issues, if the fire doesn't load properly, players can still get killed by it even though there is nothing there.
• If called in right, a Napalm strike can destroy all helicopter based killstreaks.
• If the players is directly in the area where the F4 flies by, some sound will be blocked out.
• The Wii version's targeting icon is different and is similar to the ones of Modern Warfare 2 airstrike icon.
• Sometimes a Napalm strike will cause the player's game to lag if they go near where it has been dropped.

• Sometimes fire will be invisible, but it is still dangerous to players.
• If the player skips the KillCam where one is killed by Napalm Strike, the sound of the Phantom flying can still be heard after the KillCam.
• The announcers for all factions say "Napalm Strike coming in hot!".
• It is possible for a napalm strike to kill the person who called it in, but not any friendly players on his/her team.