It's interesting given the lackluster performance of bombers in world war. I, the 1920s 1930s it became a dicta that the bomber will always get through and they assumed the bomber would completely dominate the military. That was true in a limited sense in the Pacific war but not in the land wars..
Bombers did make leaps & bounds in development between the wars - although not without a tinge of wishful thinking. Fighters languished a bit and struggled to get up to the heights bombers flew at. It was fully expected that a bomber fleet would be on the way home before the fighters even arrived... But that was before mid-30's fighter development and, of course, things like RADAR which gave a great deal more advanced warning which allowed fighters to climb high enough to be useful.
Things like the bombing of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War seemed to prove the bomber point, but when the Luftwaffe came up against the first fully integrated air defence during the Battle of Britain it showed how much had changed. The bombers (or at least some of them) still 'got through' but at an ever increasing cost. This was reinforced during the bombing campaign over Germany towards the end of WW2. Both RAF and USAAF casualties were HIGH.
These days with high speed interceptors & missile defences a bombers life expectancy is on the low side. A LOT of effort is required to 'degrade' air defences before conventional bombers can go in to do their job. Hence the building of stealth planes and the use of ballistic missiles. Seeing events in Israel it looks like the attack is gaining the upper hand again - but attack/defence does tend to swing about a bit.
It's interesting given the lackluster performance of bombers in world war. I, the 1920s 1930s it became a dicta that the bomber will always get through and they assumed the bomber would completely dominate the military. That was true in a limited sense in the Pacific war but not in the land wars..
ReplyDeleteBombers did make leaps & bounds in development between the wars - although not without a tinge of wishful thinking. Fighters languished a bit and struggled to get up to the heights bombers flew at. It was fully expected that a bomber fleet would be on the way home before the fighters even arrived... But that was before mid-30's fighter development and, of course, things like RADAR which gave a great deal more advanced warning which allowed fighters to climb high enough to be useful.
DeleteThings like the bombing of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War seemed to prove the bomber point, but when the Luftwaffe came up against the first fully integrated air defence during the Battle of Britain it showed how much had changed. The bombers (or at least some of them) still 'got through' but at an ever increasing cost. This was reinforced during the bombing campaign over Germany towards the end of WW2. Both RAF and USAAF casualties were HIGH.
These days with high speed interceptors & missile defences a bombers life expectancy is on the low side. A LOT of effort is required to 'degrade' air defences before conventional bombers can go in to do their job. Hence the building of stealth planes and the use of ballistic missiles. Seeing events in Israel it looks like the attack is gaining the upper hand again - but attack/defence does tend to swing about a bit.