Smart Bombs: The History and Future of Strategic Bombardment Essay

Smart Bombs The account statement and Future of Strategic Bombardment IntroductionEvery kid loves to unwrap stories from their grandparents about something that they have experienced in their life. For me, some of the best stories came from my commence about the air war that was waged over Europe during World contend II. He often told me of a day that a formation of more or less 1,000 conk outers flew over his baseThe dr matchless of the planes could be heard for miles and made us on the ground feel as small as ants. thither were over 1,000 of them overhead, in a perfect formation, each one with quartet engines roaring. They looked invincible to us on the ground there were so galore(postnominal) of them. After seeing the destruction that they brought upon the Ger troops 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 maximal ceiling of 35,600 ft. and a bomb load of 8,000 pounds, the B-17 Flying Fortress was one of the most capable 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 gun barrel at 20,000 feet. Though it was not quite as accurate as claimed, it could hit a 100 foot square target sphere consistently from 20,000 feet. Using this bomb sight, which was considered top secret for the first old age 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 epitome 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 fill out 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