Innovation in History: Impact and Change: The Airplane

Military Advancements

Airplanes drastically changed military tactics and possibly changed the outcome of many wars beyond 1903. After the airplane was introduced for military use, attacks beyond enemy lines and at the enemy's home front were now possible, and close range air support and bombings were possible. 

Bombers

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The bomber was produced, intended for use as a tactical weapon on the battlefield and "as a strategic weapon against the enemy's productive capacity and will to fight." (Military Aircraft - Murphy, Justin D.)

Left: the Boeing B-17 bomber, described by General H.H. Arnold as the "backbone of our worldwide aerial offensive," which served in every combat zone during WWII.


Other Military Uses

Not only were bombers produced, but transportation aircraft,  fighters, drones, and spy planes were developed, critically enhancing military capacity. Paratroopers and other airborne forces could now also exist as a military aid. 

"I really believe that the aeroplane will help peace in more ways than onein particular I think it will have a tendency to make war impossible. Indeed, it is my conviction that, had the European governments forseen the part which the aeroplane was to play [in the Great War], especially in reducing all their strategical plans to a devastating deadlock, they would never had entered upon the war.... This illustrates the mistaken notions which were entertained concerning the practical uses of the aeroplane in warfare. Most of us saw this use for scouting purposes, but few foresaw that it would usher in an entirely new form of warfare. As a result of its activities, every opposing general knows precisely the strength of his enemy and precisely what he is going to do. Thus surprise attacks, which for thousands of years have determined the events of wars, are no longer possible, and thus all future wars, between forces which stand anywhere near an equality, will settle down to tedious deadlocks. Civilized countries, knowing this in advance, will hesitate before taking up armsa fact which makes me believe that the aeroplane, far more than Hague conferences and Leagues to enforce peace, will exert a powerful influence in putting an end to war." Orville Wright, 1917