Prior to and during World War II, the Germans developed what they called retaliation …show more content…
In today’s world, as we travel through the air, many of us do not think too much about the cabin of an aircraft being pressurized. This technological advancement did not exist until it was experimented with prior to the United States entering World War II. In fact, it wasn’t until Boeing released the B-29 Superfortress, touted as the most technologically advanced aircraft, as operational in the first half of 1944; seeing service primarily in the Pacific Theater.4 The operators of the B-29 were thrilled they could cruise comfortably at 30,000 feet, due to the pressurization of the cabin. Since the B-29 could fly high, it was not subjected to threats of fighter aircraft; however, there was a problem with their bombing accuracy. Because the B-29 was flying at such a high altitude, and being in the jet stream, operators faced increased difficulties in navigating and hitting their targets; it was not uncommon for the bombardiers to not know exactly where their bombs hit. When General Curtis E. LeMay took command, he decided to switch from daytime bombing to night bombing raids, which went against all previous thought processes. General LeMay knew the Japanese Imperial forces did not have stellar radar capabilities; nor did they have the capability to defend (locate) the bombers at night.4 Moreover, these night raids proved to be devastating to the Japanese because the bombers were hitting targets which disrupted their production military supplies. The Superfortress proved to be pivotal in bringing down the Japanese. Especially, when the United States used the B-29 to drop the first and second atomic on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. Which leads into the next topic of the production of the Atomic