Strategic bombing

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.

Strategic Bombing Events

Among the most controversial instances of strategic bombing are:

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• Strategic bombing of "uncivilized tribes" during the British mandate of Iraq
• Spanish Civil War
• The Bombing of Guernica: the first aerial bombardment in history in which a civilian population was attacked with the apparent intent of producing total destruction.
• World War II
• German attacks in The Blitz
• Allied attacks on Berlin, Dresden and Hamburg, the last two later called Hiroshima of Germany by British military.
• Bombing of Tokyo
• US atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Vietnam war
• Bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, B-52s against bicycles and trucks
• US bombing of Hanoi
• US bombing of Cambodia
• Allied bombing of Iraq during the first Gulf War
• Strategic bombing of civilian targets in Iraq
• Kosovo War
• NATO bombing of industry and other civilian infrastructure in Serbia. Despite intensive work in selecting targets, many errors (of fact and of judgment) were made, including the accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and the deliberate bombing of the main TV centre in Belgrade. The bombing appears to have achieved the desired results -- the capitulation of the Serbian forces without having to commit large numbers of NATO ground troops.
• The 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Precision laser and GPS guided bombs were used extensively, not only to damage and destroy Saddam Hussein's army but also to damage infrastructure such as communications, power and various government buildings. The campaign moved into the asymmetric warfare once strategic targets no longer existed or were not viable for targeting.

Eventually, it became clear that the way to bomb effectively was to overwhelm the defences, and this was proved by the Thousand Bomber Raids, but Bomber Command did not have the front line order of battle to sustain this size raid for very long.

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