Smart Bombs: The History and Future of Strategic Bombardment Essay

Smart Bombs The History and Future of Strategic Bombardment IntroductionEvery kid loves to hear stories from their grandparents about something that they confound experienced in their life. For me, some of the best stories came from my father about the air war that was waged over Europe during World War II. He often told me of a day that a formation of almost 1,000 bombers flew over his baseThe drone of the planes could be heard for miles and made us on the ground feel as small as ants. There were over 1,000 of them overhead, in a perfect formation, each one with four engines roaring. They looked invincible to us on the ground at that bottom were so many of them. After seeing the destruction that they brought upon the German cities and factories, I was thankful they were on our side.Those invincible planes my father told me of were American B-17 Bombers. With a range of 1,850 miles, a maximum ceiling of 35,600 ft. and a bomb load of 8,000 pounds, the B-17 Flying Fortress was one o f the most cap satisfactory of the long range bombers of World War II. though these statistics are impressive, the technology that made this bomber so impressive was its bomb sight.The United States Army Air Corps claimed that its Norden Bomb sight, which was used in the B-17, could place a bomb in a pickle barrel at 20,000 feet. Though it was not quite as accurate as claimed, it could hit a 100 foot square target area consistently from 20,000 feet. Using this bomb sight, which was considered top secret for the first years of the war, formations of up to 1,000 B-17s would be able to hit a target in broad daylight accurately. The effects of these bombing runs were felt heavily in the Germans manufacturing industry. On October 14, 1943, 229 B-17s ... ...003. 19 March. 2004.http//www.astronautix.com/lvs/batasmn2.htmWebmaster. GBU-15. Military depth psychology Network. May 13. 2003. 19 March. 2004.<http//www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-15.htm Webmaster. Guided Bomb Unit-10 (GBU -10). Military Analysis Network. 19 February. 1998. 19 March. 2004.<http//www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-10.htm Webmaster. Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) bunker Buster. Military Analysis Network. 28 February. 1998. 19 March. 2004.<http//www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-28.htm Webmaster. Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). May 13. 2003. 19 March. 2004.? <http//www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/jdam.htm WWII Statistics. 1999. <http//www.angelfire.com/ct/ww2europe/stats.html Zeppelin ZI. Spartacus School Net. <http//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWzeppelin.htm