Strategic bombing

A strategic bombing campaign is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of destroying the economic ability of a nation-state to wage war. In the Military sciences a military campaign is a term applied to large scale, long duration significant Military strategy plan incorporating Military strategy is a National defence policy implemented by Military organisations to pursue desired strategic goals Derived from the Greek Total war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a Belligerent engages in a total mobilization of all available resources at his disposal For the online game see Jennifer Government NationStates. The nation-state is a certain form of State that derives its legitimacy It is a systematically organized and executed attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, cruise missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack large targets deemed to be vital to an enemy's war-making capacity. A strategic bomber is a heavy type Aircraft designed to drop large amounts of ordnance onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating an enemy's A cruise missile is a guided Missile that carries an explosive payload and uses a lifting wing and a propulsion system usually a Jet engine, to allow Ground-attack aircraft are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground and are often deployed as Close air support for and in proximity to their own ground forces It differs from terror bombing in that the latter targets the enemy civilian population, to either bend it to the aggressor's will or to punish it for political actions, such as the World War II bombing of Rotterdam to force its surrender, or the 1941 bombing of Belgrade for "treachery". World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Rotterdam Blitz refers to the aerial bombardment of Rotterdam by the German Airforce on 14 May 1940, during the German invasion Belgrade (Београд Beograd is the Capital and largest city of Serbia.

The heart of Rotterdam after being terror bombed by Germany in 1940; the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that remains to remind people of Rotterdam's medieval architecture. The Rotterdam Blitz refers to the aerial bombardment of Rotterdam by the German Airforce on 14 May 1940, during the German invasion Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Medieval architecture is a term used to represent various forms of Architecture popular in Medieval Europe.

1 Strategic Bombing
2 Methods used to deliver ordnance
3 History and origins
4 Technological advances
5 Strategic bombing events
6 Pioneers of strategic bombing
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading

While the distinction between tactical, operational, and strategic bombing can be blurred, they are distinct methodologies generally used for different purposes. Military tactics ( Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating This article describes three distinct but related terms military operations Operations as military events and operational level of war A Strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, most often "winning Strategic bombing is a methodology distinct from both tactical bombing and the use of strategic air assets in an operational capacity. Such a strategy usually involves sustained attacks over a period of time on targets that affect a nation's overall warmaking capability, such as factories, railroads, oil industries, and other resources. A factory (previously manufactory) or manufacturing plant is an industrial Building where workers manufacture goods "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. An oil refinery is an industrial Process plant where Crude oil is processed and refined into more useful Petroleum products, such as Gasoline Less frequently, individual strategic attacks are made against singular targets, such as Britain's Bomber Command attacks against the Ruhr dams in May, 1943. Bomber Command is an organizational Military unit generally subordinate to the Air force of a Country.

As strategic bombing aims to undermine an enemy nation-state's ability to wage war, strategic bombers need to be able to reach targets throughout most or all of that nation, and so have tended to be larger, longer-ranged aircraft. Strategic bombers have also been used to support major military ground operations, such as the isolation of Normandy through the bombing of transportation hubs throughout northern France in support of the D-Day invasion, or the carpet bombing of the Axis front lines west of St. D-Day may also refer to Decimal Day in the United Kingdom. D-Day is a term often used in Military parlance to denote Lo in support of Operation Cobra. Operation Cobra was the codename for the World War II operation planned by United States Army General Omar Bradley to break out from the

An aerial attack strategy of deliberately bombing and/or strafing civilian targets in order to break the morale of an enemy, make its civilian population panic, bend the enemy's political leadership to the attacker's will, or to "punish" an enemy, while strategic in nature, is more correctly termed terror bombing. Terror bombing is a strategy of deliberately bombing and/or Strafing civilian targets in order to break the Morale of the enemy make its civilian population panic

Methods used to deliver ordnance

There are three basic methods used to deliver ordnance onto targets in a strategic bombing campaign. The first is by gravity-dropping large numbers of iron bombs or "dumb bombs", using strategic bombers. A gravity bomb is an Aircraft -delivered Bomb that does not contain a Guidance system and hence simply follows a ballistic Trajectory The second is through the use of more precise ordnance, precision-guided munitions (so-called smart bombs); cruise missiles fall into this category, though they are not always air-launched. A cruise missile is a guided Missile that carries an explosive payload and uses a lifting wing and a propulsion system usually a Jet engine, to allow The third method involves the use of nuclear ordnance, either onto a battlefield in a method similar to carpet bombing, or onto a strategic target, as with iron bombs in WW II. Although the deployment of nuclear weapons from aircraft falls into the category of strategic bombing, and likely represents the ultimate form of both strategic and terror bombing, the term strategic bombing is usually used in reference to the release of non-nuclear air-ground ordnance from strategic aircraft. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion.

Area attack by multiple bombers is based upon detailed calculations of the intended Damage Expectancy or "DE" directed by the Air Tasking Order (ATO) used in a military strategy. To achieve a particular DE, planners select a bomb type based on that particular weapon's damage mechanism - blast/fragmentation or incendiary, for example. Planners then calculate the Single Sortie Probability of Damage (SSPD) and extrapolate from there, adding sorties until the probability of damage meets or exceeds the required DE. As weapons have grown more precise, the need for mass formations dropping masses of bombs has decreased, and it is now possible for a single bomb to accomplish what in the past took many bombers. In fact, one B-52 can now drop a single bomb from many miles away that can be programmed to strike a target as small as a window or doorway from a chosen direction and at a preselected angle. This can focus the blast in a given direction and can dramatically reduce the risk of collateral damage to other buildings and consequent unintended civilian casualties.

Strategic bombing by multiple modern strategic bombers like the B-52 can be likened to an hour during the Somme bottled into a thirty-second time period. The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, fought from July to November 1916 was among the largest battles of the First World War However, some believe this delivery method has been rather ineffective in attacking a nation's warmaking capability, due to the imprecise nature of the attack. Others cite the destruction of enemy infrastructure, resources expended on civil defense and physical protection of sites, and the reallocation of military resources away from the battlefield in order to staff response and air and ground antiaircraft assets as proof of its efficacy. In either case, the unintended mass civilian casualties, terror caused, and ethical questions raised draws adverse long-term attention to the morality of strategic bombing. Collateral damage is damage that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome

Carpet bombing, often confused with strategic bombing, is the use of strategic air assets for operational objectives in support of ground forces. Carpet bombing refers to the tactical bombing of a strategic area usually by the use of large numbers of unguided Gravity bombs often with a high proportion of incendiary Its use during Operation Cobra is the best-known example. Carpet bombing is viewed ambivalently by ground forces, due to the nigh-inevitable friendly casualties caused by bombers dropping their ordnance short of the aiming point, either through error or "bomb creep". ^[1]

The use of "smart" weapons is preferred by some nations for two reasons. First, it can be less devastating. Due to the greater accuracy (the smaller CEP) of precision guided weapons, there is less risk of civilian casualties. In the Military science of Ballistics, circular error probable (CEP or circular error probability is an intuitive measure of a weapon system's accuracy The second reason is the more-focused damage associated with precision weapons. Strategic bombing can destroy an entire block, but miss the vital components of a factory. Precision weapons can attack precise components of designated targets, increasing the likelihood of a successful attack. However, the 'shock' value of precision bombing is less severe than of area bombing. Unless multiple precision weapons are used, an enemy may seek cover or disperse to different parts of the targeted area. Additionally, area bombing can have an initial significant psychological effect, as the bombing of cities early in World War II terrified their citizens.

History and origins

World War I

A 1918 Air Raid rehearsal, evacuating children from a hospital.

Strategic bombing was first used in World War I, though it was not understood in its present form. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The first strategic bombing mission of the war was likely the dropping of five bombs on the Gare L'Est train station in Paris on August 30, 1914. Events 1363 - Beginning date of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders— Chen Youliang and Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Within a year or so, specialized aircraft and dedicated bomber squadrons were in service on both sides. A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them These were generally used for tactical bombing: the aim was that of directly harming enemy troops, strongpoints, or equipment, usually within a relatively small distance of the front line. Eventually, attention turned to the possibility of causing indirect harm to the enemy by systematically attacking vital rear-area resources.

The first-ever dirigible aerial bombardment of civilians was on January 19, 1915, in which two German Zeppelins dropped 24 fifty-kilogram (110 pound) high-explosive bombs and ineffective three-kilogram incendiaries on the Eastern England towns of Great Yarmouth, Sheringham, King's Lynn, and the surrounding villages. Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. Year 1915 ( MCMXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year A Zeppelin is a type of Rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century based on designs he had outlined Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a Coastal Town in Norfolk, England. For the footballer see Teddy Sheringham Sheringham is a seaside Town (population 7143 in Norfolk, England King's Lynn is a town and Port in Norfolk, England. Over the years the town has been known variously as Bishop's Lynn and Lynn Regis In all, four people were killed, sixteen injured, and monetary damage was estimated at £7,740 (about US$36,000 at the time). German dirigibles also bombed Liepaja in Latvia on the Eastern Front in January, 1915. Liepāja (liepaja) is a city in western Latvia on the Baltic sea and the administrative center of Liepāja district.

There were a further nineteen raids in 1915, in which 37 tons of bombs were dropped, killing 181 people and injuring 455. Raids continued in 1916. London was accidentally bombed in May, and, in July, the Kaiser allowed directed raids against urban centers. There were 23 airship raids in 1916, in which 125 tons of ordnance were dropped, killing 293 people and injuring 691. Gradually British air defenses improved. In 1917 and 1918, there were only 11 Zeppelin raids against England, and the final raid occurred on August 5, 1918, which resulted in the death of KK Peter Strasser, commander of the German Naval Airship Department. Events 642 - Battle of Maserfield - Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Peter Strasser ( April 1, 1876 - August 6, 1918) Chief Commander of Germany's Luftschiffer airforce during World War I By the end of the war, 51 raids had been undertaken, in which 5,806 bombs were dropped, killing 557 people and injuring 1,358. The Zeppelin raids were complemented by the Gotha bomber, which was the first heavier-than-air bomber to be used for strategic bombing. The Gotha GV was a Heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service It has been argued that the raids were effective far beyond the material damage caused, in diverting and hampering wartime production, and diverting twelve squadrons and over 10,000 men to air defenses.

The French army on June 15, 1915 attacked the German town of Karlsruhe, killing 29 civilians and wounding 58. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 1915 ( MCMXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Karlsruhe (ˈkaɐ̯lsʁuːə population 285812 in 2006 is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near Further raids followed until the Armistice in 1918.

In contrast, the British launched their own form of strategic bombing. At the start of the war, there were attacks by bombers of the Royal Navy Air Service (RNAS) against the Zeppelin production lines and their sheds at Cologne and Dusseldorf on September 22 and October 8, 1914. The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Events 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year In late 1915, the order was given for attacks on German industrial targets and the 41st Wing was formed from units of the RNAS and Royal Flying Corps. The Royal Flying Corps (RFC was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. The RNAS took to strategic bombing in bigger way than the RFC who were focussed on supporting the infantry actions of the Western Front. At first the RNAS attacked the German submarines in their moorings then steelworks further in targeting the origin of the submarines themselves.

In early 1918 they operated their "round the clock" bombing raid; with lighter bombs attacking the town of Trier by day and large HP O/400s attacking by night. Trier (Trèves Luxembourgish: Tréier; Augusta Treverorum is a City in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. The Handley Page Type O was an early Bomber aircraft used by Britain during World War I. In April 1918, the Independent Force was created, an expanded bombing group that by the end of the war had aircraft that could reach Berlin but were never used. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany.

Following the war, the concept of strategic bombing developed. The calculations which were performed on the number of dead to the weight of bombs dropped would have a profound effect on the attitudes of the British authorities and population in the interwar years, because as bombers became larger it was fully expected that deaths from aerial bombardment would approach those anticipated in the Cold War from the use of nuclear weapons. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the The fear of aerial attack on such a scale was one of the fundamental driving forces of British appeasement in the 1930s.

Period between world wars

In the period between the two world wars, military thinkers from several nations advocated strategic bombing as the logical and obvious way to employ aircraft. Domestic political considerations saw to it that the British worked harder on the concept than most. The British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service of the Great War had been merged in 1918 to create a separate air force, which spent much of the following two decades fighting for survival in an environment of severe government spending constraints. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Royal Flying Corps (RFC was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Royal Air Force leaders, in particular Air Chief Marshal Hugh Trenchard, believed the key to retaining their independence from the senior services was to lay stress on what they saw as the unique ability of a modern air force to win wars by unaided strategic bombing. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard 1st Viscount Trenchard GCB OM GCVO DSO (3 February 1873 - 10 February As the speed and altitude of bombers increased in proportion to fighter aircraft, the prevailing strategic understanding became "the bomber will always get through. The bomber will always get through was a phrase used by Stanley Baldwin in a speech to the British Parliament in 1932 I find myself at the close of a most " Although anti-aircraft guns and fighter aircraft had proved effective in the Great War, it was accepted there was little warring nations could do to prevent massive civilian casualties from strategic bombing. High civilian morale and retaliation in kind were seen as the only answers. (A later generation would revisit this, as Mutual Assured Destruction. Mutual assured destruction ( MAD; sometimes written as mutually assured destruction) is a Doctrine of military Strategy in which a full-scale )

In Europe, the air power prophet General Giulio Douhet asserted the basic principle of strategic bombing was the offensive, and there was no defence against carpet bombing and poison gas attacks. General Giulio Douhet ( 30 May 1869 - 15 February 1930) was an Italian Air power theorist Carpet bombing refers to the tactical bombing of a strategic area usually by the use of large numbers of unguided Gravity bombs often with a high proportion of incendiary Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of Chemical substances to kill injure or incapacitate an enemy. Douhet's apocalyptic predictions found fertile soil in France, Germany, and the United States, where excerpts from his book The Command of the Air (1921) were published. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the These visions of cities laid waste by bombing also gripped the popular imagination and found expression in novels such as Douhet's The War of 19-- (1930) and H.G. Wells's The Shape of Things to Come (1933) (filmed by Alexander Korda as Things to Come (1936)). A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 &ndash 13 August 1946 He was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist, his later works becoming increasingly political The Shape of Things to Come is a work of Science fiction by H Sir Alexander Korda (September 16 1893 - January 23 1956 was a Hungarian-born Film director and producer. Things to Come ( 1936) is a British Science fiction film, produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies

Pre-war planners, on the whole, vastly over-estimated the damage bombers could do, and underestimated the resilience of civilian populations. The speed and altitude of modern bombers, and the difficulty of hitting a target while under attack from improved ground fire and fighters was not understood. Jingoistic national pride played a major role: for example, at a time when Germany was still disarmed and France was Britain's only European rival, Trenchard boasted, "the French in a bombing duel would probably squeal before we did". Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. ^[2] At the time, the expectation was any new war would be brief and very savage. A British Cabinet planning document in 1938 predicted, if war with Germany broke out, 35% of British homes would be hit by bombs in the first three weeks. (This type of expectation should be kept in mind when considering the conduct of the European leaders who appeased Hitler in the late 1930s. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately )^[3]

The theory was tested at Guernica and Guangzhou, where it produced international outrage, but not surrender of the opposing nation. The bombing of Guernica ( April 26, 1937) was an aerial attack on the Basque town of Guernica, causing widespread destruction and Guangzhou ( Jyutping: Gwong²zau¹; Yale: Gwóngjàu) is the Capital and a Sub-provincial city It was more successful in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) by RAF bombers using conventional bombs, gas bombs and aerial machine-gunning against civilian populations identified as engaging in guerrilla uprisings. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Arthur Harris, a young RAF squadron commander (later nicknamed "Bomber"), reported after a mission in 1924, "The Arab and Kurd now know what real bombing means, in casualties and damage. This is a list of military figures by Nickname. 0-9 "31-Knot" — Arleigh Burke, U They know that within 45 minutes a full-sized village can be practically wiped out and a third of its inhabitants killed or injured. "^[4] Bombing as a military strategy proved to be an effective and efficient way for the British to police their Middle East protectorates in the 1920s. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. Fewer men were required as compared to ground forces. ^[5]

World War II

Main article: Strategic Bombing During World War II

1943 USAAF raid on ball bearing works at Schweinfurt, Germany

The strategic bombing conducted in World War II was unlike anything the world had seen before. Strategic bombing during World War II was greater in scale than any wartime attack the world had previously witnessed The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. A ball bearing is an engineering term referring to a type of Rolling-element bearing which uses Balls to maintain the separation between the moving parts Schweinfurt ( German for Swine ford) is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The campaigns conducted in Europe, in China and at the end of the war over Japan, could involve thousands of aircraft dropping tens of thousands of tonnes of munitions over a single city. The bombing of Chongqing ( Traditional Chinese: 重慶大轟炸 Simplified Chinese: 重庆大轰炸 Japanese: 重慶爆撃 from 18 February 1938 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. This article is about the tonne or metric ton For other tons see Ton. Ammunition, often referred to as ammo, is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which

Strategic-bombing campaigns were conducted in Europe and Asia. The Germans and Japanese made use of mostly twin-engined bombers with a payload of approximately one ton, and never developed larger craft to any extent. By comparison, the British and Americans (who started the war with similarly-sized bombers and a few larger designs) developed their strategic force as one based upon much larger four-engined bombers for their strategic campaigns. The payload carried by these planes ranged from 2. 7 tons for the B-17 Flying Fortress, to 9 tons for the B-29 Superfortress, with some specialty aircraft, such as the 'Special B' Avro Lancaster carrying an 11-ton (9,979 kg) Grand Slam bomb. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout "Lanc" redirects here Distinguish from Lank (adjective and from Amon Lanc (a place in Tolkien's fiction The Grand Slam was a 22000 lb Earth quake bomb used by RAF Bomber Command against strategic targets during the Second World War.

During the first year of the war in Europe, strategic bombing was developed through trial and error. The Luftwaffe had been attacking both civilian and military targets from the very first day of the war when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. The Invasion of Poland (1939 precipitated World War II. It was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small German-allied Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A strategic bombing campaign was launched to break British morale and achieve a peace agreement after the proposed invasion of Great Britain was dropped. Initially, the raids took place in daylight, then changed to night bombing attacks when losses became unsustainable. The Royal Air Force took the same approach, attempting to break German morale, and also switched to night bombing due to excessive losses. The United States Army Air Forces adopted a policy of daylight bombing for greater accuracy as, for example, during the Schweinfurt raids. The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. Schweinfurt ( German for Swine ford) is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right That decision entailed much higher American losses until long-range fighter escorts became available, when the original doctrine, bombers defending themselves with their own machineguns, proved inapt.

Strategic bombing was a way of taking the war into Europe while Allied ground forces were no closer to fighting Germans there than North Africa. Between them, the Allied air forces claimed to be able to bomb around the clock; in fact, no target was ever hit by British and American forces the same day, nor was there a coordinated plan for "round the clock" bombing on any target.

Even single missions have been considered to constitute strategic bombing. The British bombing of Peenemunde was such an event, as was the bombing of the Ruhr dams. Peenemünde (peːnəˈmʏndə is a village in the northeast of the German (Western part of the Usedom island The Peenemunde mission pushed back Nazi Germany's missile program until it became a case of too little, too late. V2 redirects here For the rocket see V-2 rocket. For other meanings see V2 (disambiguation.

Strategic bombing in Europe never reached the decisive completeness the American campaign against Japan achieved, helped in part by the fragility of Japanese housing, which was particularly vulnerable to firebombing through the use of incendiary bombs. Housing in Japan includes modern and traditional styles Two patterns of residences are predominant in contemporary Firebombing is a Bombing technique designed to damage a target generally an urban area through the use of Fire, caused by Incendiary devices rather Incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are Bombs designed to start Fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as Napalm, Thermite The destruction of German infrastructure became apparent, but the Allied campaign against Germany only really succeeded when the Allies began targeting oil refineries and transportation in the last year of the war. Infrastructure typically refers to the technical structures that support a society such as Roads Water supply, Wastewater, Power grids At the same time, strategic bombing of Germany was a morale boost to the Allies in the period before land war resumed on the Western front.

If the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service frequently used strategic bombing over large Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Chongqing, in the Pacific theatre, organized strategic bombing on a large scale by the Japanese seldom occurred. The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service ( Japanese:" 海軍航空本部 Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun Koku Hombu) was the air branch of the Imperial Japanese The (IJAAF was the land-based Aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army. The Battle of Shanghai was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China and the Imperial Guangzhou ( Jyutping: Gwong²zau¹; Yale: Gwóngjàu) is the Capital and a Sub-provincial city ( Chinese: 南京 Romanizations Nánjīng ( Pinyin) Nan-ching ( Wade-Giles The bombing of Chongqing ( Traditional Chinese: 重慶大轟炸 Simplified Chinese: 重庆大轰炸 Japanese: 重慶爆撃 from 18 February 1938 The Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO was the World War II military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it a geographic scope The Japanese army in most places advanced quickly enough a strategic bombing campaign was unnecessary. In those places where it was required, the smaller Japanese bombers (in comparison to British and American types) did not carry a bombload sufficient to inflict the sort of damage occurring daily at that point in the war in Europe, or later in Japan.

The development of the B-29 gave the United States a bomber with sufficient range to reach the Japanese Home Islands. The capture of the Japanese island of Iwo Jima further enhanced the capabilities the Americans possessed in their strategic bombing campaign. Iwo Jima ( 硫黄[[wikt 島|島]] officially Iōtō,also frequently Iōjima: “ Sulfur island” is an island of the Japanese Conventional bombs and incendiary bombs were used against Japan to devastating effect. Incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are Bombs designed to start Fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as Napalm, Thermite

Cold War

Nuclear weapons defined strategic bombing during the Cold War. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the The age of the massive strategic bombing campaign had come to an end. It was replaced with more precise attacks using improved sighting and weapon arming technology. Strategic bombing by the Great Powers also became politically unfeasible. A great power is a Nation or State that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale The political fallout resulting from the destruction broadcast on the evening news ended more than one strategic bombing campaign.

In the Vietnam war, strategic bombing of North Vietnam in Operation Rolling Thunder could have been more extensive, but the fear of the Johnson Administration of an entry by China into the war (and a misapprehension of the nature and technique of strategic bombing) led to restrictions on the selection of targets, as well as only a gradual escalation of intensity. Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained U The aim of the bombing campaigns was to demoralize the North Vietnamese, damage their economy and reduce their capacity to support the war in the hope they would negotiate peace, but failed to have those effects. The Nixon Administration continued this sort of limited strategic bombing during the two Operation Linebacker campaigns. For the December 1972 military operation see Operation Linebacker II. Images such as Kim Phuc Phan Thi (although this incident was the result of a close air support rather than strategic bombing) disturbed the American public enough to demand a stop to the bombardments. Phan Thị Kim Phúc (born 1963 is a Vietnamese Canadian who is the subject of a famous photo from the Vietnam War. In Military tactics, close air support ( CAS) is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are in close proximity to

Due to this, and the ineffectiveness of carpet bombing, partly because of a lack of identifiable targets, new precision weapons were developed. The new weapons allowed for more effective and more efficient bombing with reduced civilian casualties. A civilian under International humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her Country 's Armed forces. High civilian casualties had always been the hallmark of strategic bombing, but later in the Cold War, this began to change. A hallmark is a mark or series of marks struck on items made of precious metals &mdash Platinum, Gold, Silver and in some nations Palladium

The Israeli Air Force used strategic bombing during its brief but intense wars with its neighbors during the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars. The Israeli Air Force ( IAF; Hebrew: זרוע האויר והחלל Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, "Air and Space Arm" commonly known as חיל Background Suez Crisis aftermath The Suez Crisis of 1956 represented a military defeat but a political victory for Egypt The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War (מלחמת יום הכיפורים transliterated: Milkhemet Yom HaKipurim or מלחמת יום Strategic bombing was entering a new phase of high intensity, specifically targeting factories which took years and millions of dollars to build. A factory (previously manufactory) or manufacturing plant is an industrial Building where workers manufacture goods

The Israeli bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak is another single-mission strategic bombing event. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. This article is a subarticle of Nuclear power. A nuclear reactor is a device in which Nuclear chain reactions are initiated controlled Osirak, also spelled Osiraq, (French Osirak Iraqi Tammuz 1 was a 40 MW light-water nuclear materials testing reactor (MTR in The single Israeli mission retarded the Iraqi ability to produce nuclear weapons by at least seven years.

Post-Cold War

Strategic bombing in the post Cold War era was defined by American advances in and use of smart munitions. Beginning in the First Gulf War, and then more markedly in the Kosovo War and the initial phases of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, strategic bombing campaigns were notable for the heavy use of precision weaponry by the countries that possessed them. The term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is often used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts in Kosovo: 1996–1999 The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1 2003 was spearheaded by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia Although bombing campaigns were still strategic in their aims, the widespread carpet bombing tactics of World War II had mostly disappeared. This led to significantly fewer civilian casualties associated with previous conflicts, though it did not a bring about a complete end to civilian death or collateral damage.

Strategic bombing took on a more personal role, as strikes against individual leaders were considered, and approved, in the case of Saddam Hussein, or disapproved, in the case of Slobodan Milošević. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30 The idea of destroying, or not destroying, a high-value personal target was not new. In World War II, the United States chose to avoid using nuclear bombs on cities where the Japanese emperor was known reside. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The of Japan is the country's Monarch. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. There were even rumors during the Kosovo War strikes against one of Milošević's residences were held back due to the presence of an impressionist painting at the location. Impressionism was a 19th-century Art movement that began as a loose association of Paris -based Artists exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s Cruise missiles and ballistic missiles (such as the Scud) have replaced strategic bombers to an extent (as they had begun to with the introduction of the V-2). A ballistic missile is a Missile that follows a Sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering a warhead to a predetermined target Scud is a series of Tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and exported widely to other countries

Technological advances

With the advent of precision-guided munitions, many feel that strategic bombing has become a viable military strategy. Exactly how precise precision munitions are is still open to question. However, others predict that 21st century warfare will more often be asymmetrical, and therefore viable strategic bombing options may not exist. Asymmetric warfare originally referred to War between two or more belligerents whose relative military power differs significantly