page_title: Industrial web theory
section_title: Weapons development
hierarchical_section_title: Industrial web theory / Weapons development
caption_attribution_description: English: Here is an excerpt from the Bombardier's Information File (BIF) that describes the components and controls of the Norden Bombsight. Русский: Страница инструкции с описанием точного аналогового американского бомбового прицела «Norden» бомбардировщиков времен Второй мировой войны
context_page_description: Industrial web theory is the military concept that an enemy's industrial power can be attacked at nodes of vulnerability, and thus the enemy's ability to wage a lengthy war can be severely limited, as well as his morale—his will to resist. The theory was formulated by American airmen at the Air Corps Tactical School in the 1930s.
  The term "industrial web theory" cannot be found in any official United States Army Air Corps doctrine. Instead, the term was coined in the 1930s by Donald Wilson, an instructor at ACTS, to cover the concept then under development.
context_section_description: Before the development of aerial warfare, especially the long-range heavy bomber, large-scale attacks on an enemy's industrial might were impossible. No military weapon system was able to penetrate deep into enemy territory and reliably deliver the quantity of munitions required to limit the enemy's ability to wage war. Zeppelin raids during World War I came near to achieving this capability—their bomb load and range were greater than any other aircraft—but they were very vulnerable to weather and attack.
  Bombers and Zeppelins in World War I proved vulnerable to pursuit aircraft, so each of the belligerents quickly moved to a strategy of bombing at night when the attackers were much safer. However, night bombing suffered from imprecision in targeting. As early as 1926, American airmen noted that small targets which were difficult to see at night would have to be attacked in daylight hours. Still, night bombing was emphasized. In 1932, the staff at ACTS moved to embrace daylight bombing as the primary method to get the greatest bomb tonnage on target. To survive this kind of risky offensive action, the bombers would have to be flying higher than their pursuers, and higher than the effective range of anti-aircraft artillery. ACTS bombing proponents began calling for higher service ceilings for their bombers: 15,000 feet (4,600 m) for light bombers and 18,000 feet (5,500 m) for the heavy bombers.
  As well, bomber strategy began to emphasize the mutually supporting defensive fire of multiple machine guns found within a squadron of bombers flying in close formation. It was thought that bombers in formation were too difficult a target for defensive aircraft. Kenneth Walker lectured to his students in the Bombardment Section of ACTS: "Military airmen of all nations agree that a determined air attack, once launched, is most difficult, if not impossible to stop."
  With the first successful trials of the Y1B-17 Flying Fortress service test aircraft in 1937, the ACTS was convinced that this aircraft could prove their theories. The new bomber could fly above 35,000 feet (10,700 m), was faster and could carry a larger bomb load than any previous bomber. Its potential for use against targets deep within an enemy nation was far greater than any previous aircraft. These qualities combined with its massive amount of defensive firepower brought ACTS theorists to conclude that the B-17 bomber fleet was invincible, that it was indeed true that "The bomber will always get through", a phrase uttered in 1932 by Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley.
  With increasing altitude, the circular error of probability (CEP) also increased, resulting in decreased damage to the target. Bombs dropped from high altitudes would fall over a wide area below, and in order for the bombers to significantly damage a target, the number of bombers would have to be prohibitively large. The Norden bombsight, tested in 1933, held the promise of much greater accuracy in high altitude bombing, and helped the ACTS theorists conclude that pinpoint bombing was possible.
caption: An instructional diagram of the Norden bombsight
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