<text id=00he0407><title>Gestation of the Strategic Bomber</title>
<history>US Air Force: Events History</history>
<article><hdr>Gestation of the Strategic Bomber</hdr><body>
<p>For long years. the preponderant Army aircraft were observation types. In 1921, the fleet included about 1,100 de Havilland DH-4N observation aircraft, capable of carrying a small bomb load over a short range; 17 British-designed SE-5E pursuits; and an even dozen Martin MB-2 heavy bombers. A majority of those aircraft were in storage and unavailable to fly on operations.
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<p>By the middle of 1924, the Air Service only had 754 planes in commission, 457 of which were for observation. The bomber fleet had increased to 59 by then, and there were eight attack planes capable of light tactical bombing. A total of 78 pursuits rounded out the air power roster.
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<p>During the 1920s, the total offensive strength of the United States in the air had never exceeded one pursuit, one attack, and one bombardment group.
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<p>The efficiencies of these aircraft had not improved very much over the capabilities exhibited over the Western Front in 1917-18. The best biplane bomber of the late 1920s—the Curtiss B-2 Condor—had a bomb load of 2,500 lb (762 kg). Fully loaded, the airplane had a combat radius of less than 300 miles (483 km), and a cruise speed of about 100 mph (160 km/h). It was regarded as much too costly a weapon and only 12 were bought, and they were delivered during 1928 and 1929.
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<p>The technology of that time produced inferior bombers. They would have been hammered out of the skies by any of the swifter, more maneuverable biplanes operated by the world's air forces. The tactical exercises of the times proved the obvious: the lumbering bombers were sitting ducks in daylight. Their only chance of survival would be night operations but bombing accuracy, which was never very good, would be even worse at night. The advantage of tight formation flying to mass the bombs would be lost in the looser formations demanded by the increased risk of collision in night flying.
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<p>After a number of abortive starts, bomber technology reached a turning point in 1930. The Air Corps issued a circular request for a new bomber, and its results revolutionized bomber design and tactics. In response, Boeing developed its Models 214 and 215 (later the Y1B-9 and YB-9, respectively) with corporate funds. They both flew in 1931, were tested by the Air Corps, and the biplane bomber was instantly obsolete. The sleek, low-winged Boeing design was a revolution in technology.
