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Strategic bombing is a military strategem used in a total war style campaign that attempts to destroy the economic ability of a nation-state to wage war. It is a systematically organized and executed attack from the air. It is different from the tactical event of strategic bombing, which involves strategic bomber aircraft, cruise missiles, or fighter-bomber aircraft attacking targets determined during the organization of the strategic bombing campaign.The distinction between tactical and strategic bombing can be easily blurred. Strategic bombing missions usually attack targets such as factories, railroads, oil refineries and cities, while tactical bombing missions attack targets such as troop concentrations, command and control facilities, airfields, and ammunition dumps. The act of traveling to the target and dropping bombs, even if part of a strategic bombing campaign, is a tactical event. Strategic bombers tend to be large, long-range aircraft; tactical bombers are mostly relatively small. However, the distinction does not lie in the aircraft type used or the assigned target, it lies in the purpose of the attack. Tactical bombing aims to defeat individual enemy military forces. Strategic bombing aims to undermine a nation-state's ability to wage war, historically as a part of a total war strategy.
1 Methods used to deliver ordnance
There are three basic methods used to deliver ordnance onto targets in a strategic bombing campaign. The first is carpet bombing using strategic bombers. The second is the use of more precise ordnance, precision-guided munitionPrecision-guided munitions smart munitions or smart bombs are self-guiding weapons intended to maximize damage to the target while minimizing " collateral damage". Because the damage effects of an explosive weapon scale as a power law with distance, quites such as so called smart bombs, delivered from cruise missiles or aircraft. The third method involves the use of large nuclear weapons, used in a method similar to carpet bombing. Although the use of nuclear weapons falls into the category of strategic bombing, perhaps as the ultimate form thereof, the term is usually used in reference to conventional bombing from aircraft or cruise missiles.
Carpet bombing by multiple modern strategic bombers like the B-52B-52 Stratofortress Description RoleHeavy bomber, missile platform Crew5aircraft commander, pilot, radar navigator, navigator and electronic warfare officer Dimensions Length159 ft 4 in48. 5 m Wingspan185 ft56. 4 m Height40 ft 8 in12. 4 m Wing area4,000 f can be likened to an hour during the Somme bottled into a thirty second time period. Even with smaller bombers in World War II, this form of attack is terrible to behold. In general, this delivery method has not proved very effective, due to the imprecise nature of the attack, and the attention garnered to the almost inevitable civilian casualities.
The use of smart weapons is generally preferred for two reasons. First, it is more humane. Due to the greater accuracy (the smaller CEP) of precision weapons, there is less risk of civilian casualities. The second reason is the increased damage associated with the precision weapons. Carpet bombing can destroy an entire block, but miss the vital components of a factory. Precision weapons can attack the precise components of designated targets, increasing the likelihood of a successful attack.
2 History and origins
2.1 World War One
Strategic bombing was first used in World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of, though it was not understood in its present form. From quite early in World War I, aircraft were used to drop improvised explosive packages on the enemy. Within a year or so, specialized aircraft and dedicated bomberA bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. For other uses of the word bomber see bomber (disambiguation). Strategic bombers are primarily designed for long-range strike missions against strategic target squadrons were in service on both sides. This was tactical bombing: it had the aim of directly harming enemy troops, strongpoints, or equipment, usually within a relatively small distance of the front line. Eventually, during World War I, attention turned to the possibility of causing indirect harm to the enemy by systematically attacking vital rear-area resources. Following the war, the concept of stategic bombing developed.
