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Astrategic bomber is a medium-to-long-rangebomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts ofair-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unliketactical bombers,penetrators,fighter-bombers, andattack aircraft, which are used inair interdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment, strategic bombers are designed to fly into enemy territory to destroy strategic targets (e.g.,infrastructure,logistics,military installations, factories, etc.). In addition tostrategic bombing, strategic bombers can be used fortactical missions. There are currently only three countries that operate strategicheavy bombers: theUnited States,Russia andChina.
The modern strategic bomber role appeared afterstrategic bombing was widely employed, andatomic bombs were first used duringWorld War II. Nuclear strike missions (i.e., deliveringnuclear-armedmissiles orbombs) can potentially be carried out by most modernfighter-bombers andstrike fighters, even at intercontinental range, with the use ofaerial refueling, so any nation possessing this combination of equipment and techniques theoretically has such capability. Primary delivery aircraft for a modern strategic bombing mission need not always necessarily be a heavy bomber type, and any modern aircraft capable of nuclear strikes at long range is equally able to carry outtactical missions withconventional weapons. An example isFrance'sMirage IV, a small strategic bomber replaced in service by theASMP-equippedMirage 2000Nfighter-bomber andRafalemultirole fighter.
As of 2025[update], theUnited States Air Force is the largest operator with 130 strategic bombers in active service, between theB-52 Stratofortress,B-1 Lancer, andNorthrop B-2 Spirit. TheRussian Air Force is second with 119 bombers between itsTu-95,Tu-22M, andTu-160.[1]
Thefirst strategic bombing efforts took place duringWorld War I (1914–18), by theRussians with theirSikorsky Ilya Muromets bomber (the first heavy four-engine aircraft), and by theGermans usingZeppelins or long-range multi-engineGothaaircraft. Zeppelins reachedEngland on bombing raids by 1916, forcing the British to create extensive defense systems including some of the firstanti-aircraft guns which were often used with searchlights to highlight the enemy machines overhead. Late in the war,American fliers under the command of Brig. Gen.Billy Mitchell were developing multi-aircraft "mass" bombing missions behind German lines, although theArmistice ended full realization of what was being planned.
Study of strategic bombing continued in the interwar years. Many books and articles predicted a fearful prospect for any future war, paced by political fears such as those expressed byBritish Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin who told theHouse of Commons early in the 1930s that "the bomber will always get through" no matter what defensive systems were undertaken. It was widely believed by the late 1930s thatstrategic "terror" bombing of cities in anywar would quickly result in devastating losses and might decide a conflict in a matter of days or weeks. But theory far exceeded what most air forces could actually put into the air. Germany focused on short-range tactical bombers.Britain'sRoyal Air Force began developing four-engine long-range bombers only in the late 1930s. TheU.S. Army Air Corps (Army Air Forces as of mid-1941) was severely limited by small budgets in the late 1930s, and only barely saved theB-17 bomber that would soon be vital. The equally importantB-24 first flew in 1939. Both aircraft would constitute the bulk of the bomber force forUSAAF strategic bombing in Europe andAlliedday bomber units more generally.
At the start ofWorld War II, so-called "strategic" bombing was initially carried out bymedium bomberaircraft which were typically twin-engined, armed with several defensive guns, but only possessed limitedbomb-carrying capacity andrange. BothBritain and theUS were developing larger two- and four-engined designs, which began to replace or supplement the smaller aircraft by 1941–42. After American entry into the war in December 1941, the U.S.8th Air Force began to develop adaylight bombing capacity using improvedB-17 andB-24 four-engine aircraft. In order to assemble the formations to carry out these bombing campaigns,assembly ships were used to quickly form defensivecombat boxes. TheRAFconcentrated its efforts on night bombing. But neither force was able to develop adequatebombsights or tactics to allow for often-bragged "pinpoint" accuracy. The post-war U.S.Strategic Bombing Survey studies supported the overall notion of strategic bombing, but underlined many of its shortcomings as well. Attempts to create pioneering examples of "smart bombs" resulted in theAzon ordnance, deployed in theEuropean Theater andCBI Theater from B-24s.
Following the untimely death of the top German advocate for strategic bombing,GeneralWalther Wever in early June 1936, the focus of Nazi Germany'sLuftwaffe bomber forces, the so-namedKampfgeschwader (bomber wings) became the battlefield support of theGerman Army as part of the generalBlitzkrieg form of warfare, carried out with both medium bombers such as theHeinkel He 111, andSchnellbombers such as theJunkers Ju 88A. Support for theUral bomber project before the start of WW II dwindled after Wever's death, with the only aircraft design that could closely match the Allied bomber force's aircraft – theHeinkel He 177A, originated in early November 1937, deployed in its initial form in 1941–42, hampered by aRLM requirement for it to also perform medium-angledive bombing, not rescinded until September 1942 – unable to perform either function properly, with a powerplant selection and particular powerplant installation design features on the 30-meter wingspanGreif, that led to endless problems with engine fires. The trans-Atlantic rangedAmerika Bomber program started in March 1942 sought to ameliorate the lack of a long-range bomber for theLuftwaffe, but led only to threeMesserschmitt- and twoJunkers-built prototypes ever flying, and no operational "heavy bombers" for strategic use for the Third Reich beyond the roughly one thousand He 177s built.
By the end of the Second World War in 1945, the "heavy" bomber, epitomized by the BritishAvro Lancaster and AmericanBoeing B-29 Superfortress used in thePacific Theater, showed what could be accomplished byarea bombing of Japan's cities and the often small and dispersed factories within them. Under Major GeneralCurtis LeMay, the U.S.20th Air Force, based in theMariana Islands, undertook low-levelincendiary bombing missions, results of which were soon measured in the number of square miles destroyed. Theair raids on Japan had withered the nation's ability to continue fighting, although the Japanese government delayed surrender untilatomic bombs were dropped onHiroshima andNagasaki in August 1945.
During theCold War, the United States and United Kingdom on one side and theSoviet Union on the other kept strategic bombers ready totake off on short notice as part of thedeterrent strategy ofmutually assured destruction (MAD). Most strategic bombers of the twosuperpowers were designed to delivernuclear weapons. For a time, some squadrons ofBoeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers were kept in the air around the clock,orbiting some distance away from theirfail-safe points near the Soviet border.
The British produced three different "V bombers" for theRoyal Air Force which were designed and designated to be able to deliver British-made nuclear bombs to targets in European Russia. These bombers would have been able to reach and destroy cities such as Kiev or Moscow before American strategic bombers. While they were never used against the Soviet Union or its allies, two V bomber types, theAvro Vulcan and theHandley Page Victor, were used in theFalklands War towards the end of their operational lives.
The Soviet Union produced hundreds of unlicensed copies of the AmericanBoeing B-29 Superfortress, which theSoviet Air Forces called theTupolev Tu-4. The Soviets later developed thejet-poweredTupolev Tu-16 "Badger".
The People's Republic of China produced a version ofTupolev Tu-16 on license from the Soviet Union in the 1960s, which they named theXian H-6.
During the 1960s France produced itsDassault Mirage IV nuclear-armed bomber for theFrench Air Force as a part of its independent nuclear strike force, theForce de Frappe, using French-made bombers andIRBMs to deliver French-madenuclear weapons. Mirage IVs served until mid-1996 in the bomber role, and to 2005 asreconnaissance aircraft.
The French Republic limited its strategic armaments to a squadron of fournuclear-poweredballistic missile submarines, with 16SLBM tubes apiece. France also maintains an active force of supersonicfighter-bombers carryingASMP stand-off nuclearmissiles, withMach 3 speed and a range of 500 kilometers. These missiles can be delivered by theDassault Mirage 2000N andRafalefighter-bombers; the Rafale is also capable ofrefueling others in flight using abuddy refueling pod.
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Newer strategic bombers such as theRockwell B-1 Lancer, theTupolev Tu-160, and theNorthrop Grumman B-2 Spirit designs incorporate various levels ofstealth technology in an effort to avoid detection, especially byradar networks. Despite these advances earlier strategic bombers, for example theB-52 last manufactured in 1962 and theTupolev Tu-95, remain in service and can also deploy the latest air-launchedcruise missiles and other "stand-off" orprecision guided weapons such as theJASSM and theJDAM.
TheRussian Air Force's newTu-160M2 strategic bombers are expected to be delivered on a regular basis over the course of 10 to 20 years[when?]. TheTu-95 and Tu-160 bombers will be periodically updated, as was done during the 1990s with theTu-22M bombers.
Strategic bombers of theCold War were primarily armed with nuclear weapons. During the post-1940sIndochina Wars, and also since the end of the Cold War, modern bombers originally intended forstrategic use have been exclusively employed usingnon-nuclear,high explosive weapons. During theVietnam War,Operation Menu,Operation Freedom Deal,Gulf War,military action in Afghanistan, and the2003 invasion of Iraq, American B-52s and B-1s were mostly employed intactical roles. During theSoviet-Afghan war in 1979–88,Soviet Air Forces Tu-22Ms carried out severalmass air raids in various regions ofAfghanistan.
As of 2025[update], theUnited States Air Force is the largest operator with 130 strategic bombers in active service, between theB-52 Stratofortress,B-1 Lancer, andNorthrop B-2 Spirit. TheRussian Air Force is second with 119 bombers between itsTu-95,Tu-22M, andTu-160.[1]
Bombers listed below were used in the main or represented a shift in long-range bomber design (Maximum bomb load). In practice, bomb loads carried are dependent on factors such as the distance to target and the individual type, size or weight of bombs used.
Nomenclature for size classification of aircraft types used instrategic bombing varies, particularly since the time of World War II due to sequential technological advancements and changes inaerial warfare strategy and tactics. TheB-29, for example was a benchmark aircraft of theheavy bomber type at end ofWorld War II due to its size, range and load carrying ability; as theCold War began, it became an intercontinentalrange strategic bomber with the development of new techniques, such asaerial refueling (which also greatly extended the range of other medium- to long-rangebombers,fighter-bombers andattack aircraft).
During the 1950s the U.S.Strategic Air Command also briefly brought back the outdated term "medium bomber" to distinguish itsBoeing B-47 Stratojets from somewhat larger contemporaryBoeing B-52 Stratofortress "heavy bombers" in bombardment wings; olderB-29 andB-50heavy bombers were also redesignated as "medium" during this period.[2][3][4]SAC'snomenclature here was purely semantic and bureaucratic, however as both the B-47 and B-52 strategic bombers were much larger and had far greater performance and load-carrying ability than any of the World War II-era heavy or medium bombers.
Other aircraft such as the twin-jetUSFB-111,Douglas A-3 Skywarrior andFrance'sDassault Mirage IV had nominal warloads of less than 20,000 lb (9,100 kg), and were significantly smaller in size and gross weight compared with their strategic bomber contemporaries, based on which they might be classified as medium bombers. In thenuclear strike role, France would replace its Mirage IVs beginning in the late 1980s with the even smaller, single-engineMirage 2000Nfighter-bomber, a further example of advancing technologies and changing tactics inmilitary aviation andaircraft design. France's newer twin-engineDassault Rafalemultirole fighter also hasnuclear strike capability.
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Weapons loads can includenuclear-armedmissiles as well asaerial bombs
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