In 1999, the United States Air Force brought two groundbreaking new bombing technologies to bear in Operation Allied Force, and bomber operations would never be the same after.
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Citations:
https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104572/joint-direct-attack-munition-gbu-313238/
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/467901/b-52-upgrade-to-increase-smart-weapons-capacity/
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/110011/arc-light-marked-beginning-of-b-52-involvement-in-vietnam/
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/1212linebacker/
https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/Selected_Acquisition_Reports/FY_2018_SARS/19-F-1098_DOC_46_JDAM_SAR_Dec_2018.pdf
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/0906jdam/
https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Online-Exhibits/Target-Designators/#:~:text=In%201968%2C%20the%20USAF%20tested,to%20where%20the%20laser%20pointed.
https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196016/texas-instruments-bolt-117-laser-guided-bomb/
https://media.defense.gov/2017/Dec/28/2001861715/-1/-1/0/T_BLACKWELDER_ROAD_TO_DESERT.PDF
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/26/science/invention-that-shaped-the-gulf-war-the-laser-guided-bomb.html
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/weapons/R45996.pdf
https://media.defense.gov/2017/Dec/28/2001861715/-1/-1/0/T_BLACKWELDER_ROAD_TO_DESERT.PDF
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/2010/March%202010/0310bombs.pdf
https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/1513314/enabling-technologies/#:~:text=Bombing%20accuracy%20with%20the%20Norden,1%2C000%20feet%20of%20the%20target.
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/1008daylight/
https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/AUPress/Books/B_0020_SPANGRUD_STRATEGIC_BOMBING_SURVEYS.pdf
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For most of the world, it would be nice when american values are mentioned (e.g. weight, distance) to have the equivalent in metric system displayed on the screen. Otherwise, fantastic video as always.
so what's the news?
We also have knife missiles now. Don't forget that.
USA – Making warfare smarter since 1776
It’s crazy to think of the changes from payload, accuracy and blast radius from WW2 to today. What a single B2 or B52 can do compared to B17s.
Thanh Hóa Bridge in Vietnam was destroyed by F4s using LGBs in 1972
The earliest guided aerial bombs that I am aware of were developed by the Royal Navy's Board of Invention and Research (BIR) all the way back in 1915. First, using selenium cell technology, the bombs were guided down on to their targets by light pulses from signal lamps and then they developed bombs that were guided to their targets using radio control; apparantly these experiments were quite sucessful. There was some argument about whether light pulses or radio waves was the better remote control technology but it was never resolved before the British Governement stepped in to kill the project.
The BIR was set up for the sole purpose of pigeonholing Admiral of the Fleet, Lord (Jacky) Fisher. He, as 1st Sea Lord, had just quit due to a row with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, over the Dardanelles campaign but, on his way out the door, the enraged Fisher deliberately used his political power to bring down the Government whom he held responsible for the whole Dardanelles misadventure. After a replacement national unity Government was formed, the politicians decided that Fisher needed to be bound to the war effort in some way to enforce his silence as he could do a lot of damage to them if left roaming around loose. They were fully aware that Fisher was far more popular and trusted by the general population than they were.
It was not expected that the BIR would produce anything useful but they forgot that Fisher was a brillianrt technocratic administrator and creative innovator. Also, once it was known that Fisher was President of the BIR, the most capable scientific and engineering minds Britain possessed flocked to the BIR for the opportunity to work with Fisher. Within weeks of being established the BIR was churning out a steady stream of concepts that could positively impact the War in the Allies favour. Once they realised that many of these concepts were viable, the politicians moved to strangle the BIR's ability to bring these concepts to reality (Asdic was the one concept that eventually did become a reality). The politicians preferred to contiue to expend troops in pointless meat-grinders rather than allow Fisher any batlefield "win".
I remember singing cadence, "Napalm Sticks to little kids. Dooh Dah, Dooh Dah." That was 1982. That was out in the US Army by 1985. It was a leftover from the napalm runs in Vietnam. But I noticed the difference in bombers. I noticed you did not mention the cargo planes dropping racks of long distance missiles. They do a bit of the new bombing. Good show.
Laser-guided bombs were actually first employed in the Vietnam War, though to a far lesser extent; only in the Gulf War was it used more widely and actively. Bomb technology has indeed advanced a lot. Now the US has the Rapid Dragon system that basically turns C-130s and C-17s into airborne missile launchers (firing AGM-158 cruise missiles).
And an idea starts with a single person with a thought.
I gather that the early Linebacker II raids were not very well-planned. HQs had forgotten how to turn out complex raid plans on a daily basis. Things did improve.
Isn't something like this being used in Ukraine? But on a artillery shell. I thought the russians had developed effective gps jamming against them so they are not being wasted anymore. I mean is our "tech" really as effective as claimed? Over hyping seems to be the rule of the day when it comes to tech. Show me what it can do in Ukraine. Then we will evaluate the results. Verify then trust.
I'm a former USAF weapon's tech who went over to US Army field artillery. JDAMS was the game changer but there had been LGBs, infrared, and TV optics for munitions That's not even counting the old US Army Pershing II that had ungodly accuracy (not quite necessary for a nuke). The trouble was expense. Also, the carrying aircraft had to be extensively modified with old analog technology. The aircraft that changed the game was the old A-7D which introduced iron bombs to precision accuracy. The F-16 and F-18 were the next level. In the Field Artillery they taught us that few targets can survive an absolute direct hit. Even an M-1 tank will be knocked out of action by the correct application of a mere 25 pound bomb on the engine deck. The USAF SDB guided bomb makes any good fighter into a "strategic" bomber.
I did. I noticed lol.
In WW2 whats about the "Nortons" aiming sight?
Yeah warfare in the west has changed a lot since desert storm. In Vietnam you still had carpet bombing and mass civilian casualties. Now you have precision bombing where civilian casualties are not expected to be all that high. I would argue that that mentality also holds true for the soldiers themselves. in Vietnam the US lost 58,000 people and that wasn't even all that high compared to Vietnam itself that lost over a million. In desert storm they were expecting much of the same but that just never came and all coalition forces lost 292 people. It was a shorter engagement than Vietnam but that is two orders of magnitude less than Vietnam. This hasn't really changed for the US in recent history. The US lost 4,507 in Iraq and 2,380 in Afghanistan in all of the years of occupation. It is these second ones which are much more comparable to Vietnam as they lasted several years instead of a few months.
The US has really changed our tools we use in fights. In WW2, Korea, and Vietnam troop transport was in the back of a truck or was simply soldiers marching along a road. In the Gulf War the US individualized that transportation a lot more. Units would have their own transport vehicles with the front lines having Bradleys and with rear units having the new HMMWV. This meant units traveled in smaller groups, were much faster targets, and could even carry much better equipment like crew served weapons easily. This change only increased with the Iraq War as IEDs became a thing. We started issuing body armor to all troops but it wasn't enough so we even started armoring those rear units with up-armored Humvees. Vehicles like MRAPs, Strykers, and the new JLTV are just how the Army transports troops now. You no longer are marching 20 miles or riding in the back of a truck with your ruck and your m14/m16. You are riding in a JLTV with a remote controlled M230LF on the top of it. I will admit part of me thinks this is awesome. The battlefield is a lot safer for US Soldiers than it was 50 years ago. But I also have to wonder if we are too used to always having that dominant position. What is going to happen to morale if we are actually in a near peer fight again? As an American society are we going to be freaking out over 1000 sailors being lost because an aircraft carrier was sunk? Are we ready for the realities of war or is it just a video game to us?
Libya was first time we used laser guided bombs .
Well stated
5:15 me in the toilet
Bomber Harris wants a word about not laying waste.
Yet ANOTHER excellent video. I can't help but realize though… Civilian vs military target defining is a grey area when the civilian population is supporting the military war effort.
The practice / philosophy of minimizing civilian casualties by the USA is a good thing. Unless you are talking about 2 certain areas in the Middle East right?
As a former field artillery veteran, I feel like aircraft get and got more credit than they have been due historically, due to their flash and awe…. FA has been accurately laying waste to targets for quite some time…. Before smart munitions.
I noticed immediately. Gulf War 1 was the first conflict I saw ('78 baby). When we went from 'planes per target' to 'targets per plane,' it was a gamechanger. Add stealth for true 'glad it's on our side' terror.
And modern people can't comprehend older military tactics, so they see carpet bombing as deliberate civilian massacres in all situations. (Firebombing Tokyo, etc. is why I mentioned "in all situations". Those WERE terror attacks.) They don't accept we couldn't have done precision strategic bombing before the late Vietnam war, and therefore limited casualties.
Why send a couple bombers when you could send ten thousand small drones in a swarm
The change started during the Vietnam war.
I truly wonder what the Bomber Mafia of the 1930s would think of today’s heavies. Even Curtis LeMay I think would be astounded by what even his old B-52Hs can do today!
This is why I'm REALLY curious to find out how much AA gunfire and air-to-air fired round result in collateral damage when they finally come back to earth…
Maybe Alex can dig into that and do a similar short-report/story? 🤞😌🤞
I was in the Navy from 1971 – 1981. My first WestPac cruise was 1972 – 1973 while Vietnam was still a hot war. We had laser bomb guidance units at that time. I know this for a fact because it was part of my job to test them before they were attached to the bombs.
Can the B21 become the NGAD? It has the range and the modulisation just not the speed but then the SR72 does as well as others ? And what about the BUFF J??
As an old crew chief, I had to come here and say the pictures of the JADAM are upside-down. 😂😂😂
Your hooks are on the bottom.
Still love your videos. Keep it up.
I love how short your videos are. You say what you need to say, and nothing more. You don't grind every video to 30+ minutes like a lot of guys do. I really appreciate this.
Actually proof of concept for precision bombing was Desert Storm. Even with dumb bombs the planes were hitting 75% of the time. The Smart ones were hitting 90+% of the time.