World War II was a type of warfare where nations raced each other to develop new military technology that could defeat other nations. In some circumstances, the new technologies have benefited nations but also have hurt the nations during warfare. One of these new technology innovations was The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Heavy Bomber Aircraft. This aircraft was a game changer for aircraft bombing missions due to the range of travel and the design of aircraft. In order to comprehend how this aircraft changed modern aviation warfare; the aircraft’s program history, how it operated in combat, and the airmen culture on the aircraft must be understood. The Boeing B-17 program history is the first area where aircraft warfare methods have changed. The B-17 program’s technology was always the newest from the development of the aircraft to bombing raids in Europe. The B-17 was a technology pioneer in terms of every time a technology breakthrough was discovered the aircraft was redesign to make the appropriate advancements. The start of the technology breakthrough began on July 28, 1935 when The Boeing Company successfully flew the first version …show more content…
Strategic bombing is when aircraft with bombs are used to destroy the enemy’s factories, transport services, and disrupt the enemy from supporting the war effort. [4] Even though the aircraft was used in the Pacific Theater, the B-17 reputation and tactics were developed in Europe Theater. The B-17 was the only Heavy bomber in Europe until the end of the war. The lack of a strategic long-range bombing for the Nazis was due to the lone supporter, Walther Wever from the Nazi’s Luftwaffe who died in 1936. No other Nazi official such as Hermann Goring believed in the need of a long-range bomber aircraft so the Nazi’s only used fighter aircraft with bombs attached to the undercarriage of the aircraft.