Air warfare of World War II

Air warfare in World War II used aircraft for strategic bombing, air defense, battlefield support, reconnaissance, transport, and combat over land and sea.

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Strategic bombing: Military attacks on an adversary’s economic, industrial, or political capacity, conducted beyond the immediate battlefield. Long-range bombing campaigns sought to weaken enemy war production and morale.
Combined Bomber Offensive: The Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign against Germany, conducted chiefly from 1943 to 1945. It joined British night bombing and American daylight attacks against German targets.
Area bombing: A bombing method that attacks broad urban or industrial zones rather than only specific structures. It contrasts with attacks intended to destroy individually selected targets.
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The United States’ atomic bomb attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The attacks marked the most destructive air-delivered weapons used in the war.
Battle of Britain: The 1940 air campaign in which Germany sought air superiority over Britain before a possible invasion. Britain’s integrated fighter defense defeated Germany’s attempt to control the skies.
Doolittle Raid: A United States air raid on Japan launched from aircraft carriers on April 18, 1942. The raid demonstrated the symbolic and operational reach of carrier-launched bombers.
Precision bombing: Air attack intended to hit a selected target rather than a surrounding area. Its stated aim differed from the broad destruction sought by area bombing.
Strategic bombing during World War II: The wartime campaign of attacks on enemy cities, industries, infrastructure, and resources from the air. Its civilian deaths and contested military results shaped postwar assessments of air power.
Air supremacy: A degree of control over airspace that allows friendly operations without prohibitive interference from enemy aircraft. Control of the air shaped whether bombing and ground operations could proceed.
Operation Tidal Wave: A 1943 American low-level bombing raid against oil refineries at Ploiești, Romania. Its costly attack illustrates the risks of striking heavily defended industrial targets.