Bomber A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets , by dropping bomb s on them , firing torpedoes at them , or – in recent years – by launching cruise missile s at them . Classification . Strategic . Strategic bombing is done by heavy bomber s primarily designed for long - range bombing missions against strategic target s such as supply bases , bridges , factories , shipyards , and cities themselves , in order to diminish an enemy ' s ability to wage war by limiting access to resources through crippling infrastructure or reducing industrial output . Current examples include the strategic nuclear - armed strategic bomber s : B - 2 Spirit , B - 52 Stratofortress , Tupolev Tu - 95 ' Bear ' , Tupolev Tu - 22M ' Backfire ' ; historically notable examples are the : Gotha G . IV , Avro Lancaster , Heinkel He - 111 , Junkers Ju 88 , Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress , Consolidated B - 24 Liberator , Boeing B - 29 Superfortress , and Tupolev Tu - 16 ' Badger ' . Tactical . Tactical bombing , aimed at countering enemy military activity and in supporting offensive operations , is typically assigned to smaller aircraft operating at shorter ranges , typically near the troops on the ground or against enemy shipping . This role is filled by tactical bomber class , which crosses and blurs with various other aircraft categories : light bomber s , medium bomber s , dive bomber s , interdictor s , fighter - bomber s , attack aircraft , multirole combat aircraft , and others . Current examples : F - 15E Strike Eagle , F / A - 18 Hornet , Sukhoi Su - 27 , Xian JH - 7 , Dassault - Breguet Mirage 2000 , and the Panavia Tornado ; historical examples : Ilyushin Il - 2 " Shturmovik " , Junkers Ju 87 " Stuka " , Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt , Hawker Typhoon , McDonnell - Douglas F - 4 Phantom II and Mikoyan MiG - 27 . History . 1911 – 1939 . The first use of an air - dropped bomb ( actually a hand grenade ) was carried out by the Italians , by Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti , during the 1911 Italo - Turkish war in Libya . While mainly used as a trainer , Avro 504s were briefly used as bombers at the start of the First World War by the Royal Naval Air Service ( RNAS ) when they were used for raids on the German airship sheds . The Caproni Ca 1 was a twin - boom trimotor biplane that first saw action in 1915 , when one was used to attack the Austrian air base at Aisovizza . The Sikorsky Ilya Muromets , became the first four - engine bomber to equip a dedicated strategic bombing unit during World War I . This heavy bomber was unrivaled in the early stages of the war , as the Central Powers had no comparable aircraft until much later . When the war started , bombing was very crude ( hand - held bombs were thrown over the side ) yet by the end of the war long - range bombers equipped with complex mechanical bombing computers were being built , designed to carry large loads to destroy enemy industrial targets . Arguably the most important bombers used in WWI were the French Breguet 14 , British de Havilland DH - 4 , German Albatros C . III and Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets . Long range bombing raids were carried out at night by multi - engined biplanes such as the Gotha G . IV ( whose name was synonymous with all multi - engine German bombers ) and later the Handley Page Type O ; the majority of bombing was done by single - engined biplanes with one or two crew - members flying short distances to attack enemy lines and immediate hinterland . As the effectiveness of a bomber was dependent on the weight and accuracy of its bombload , ever larger bombers were developed starting in WWI , while considerable money was spent developing suitable bombsights . World War II . With engine power as a major limitation , combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors , bomber designs tended to be tailored to specific roles . By the start of the war this included : Bombers are not intended to attack other aircraft although most were fitted with defensive weapons . World War II saw the beginning of the widespread use of high speed bombers which dispensed with defensive weapons to be able to attain higher speed , such as with the de Havilland Mosquito , a philosophy that continued with many Cold War bombers . Some smaller designs have been used as the basis for night fighter s , and a number of fighters , such as the Hawker Hurricane were used as ground attack aircraft , replacing earlier conventional light bombers that proved unable to defend themselves while carrying a useful bombload . Cold War . At the start of the Cold War , bombers were the only means of carrying nuclear weapons to enemy targets , and had the role of deterrence . With the advent of guided air to air missiles , bombers needed to avoid interception . High speed and high altitude flying became a means of evading detection and attack . Designs such as the English Electric Canberra could fly faster or higher than contemporary fighters . When surface to air missiles became capable of hitting high flying bombers , bombers were flown at low altitudes to evade radar detection and interception . Once " stand off " nuclear weapon designs were developed , bombers did not need to pass over the target to make an attack ; they could fire and turn away to escape the blast . Nuclear strike aircraft were generally finished in bare metal or anti - flash white to minimize absorption of thermal radiation from the flash of a nuclear explosion . The need to drop conventional bombs remained in conflicts with non - nuclear powers , such as the Vietnam War or Malayan Emergency . The development of large strategic bombers stagnated in the later part of the Cold War because of spiraling costs and the development of the Intercontinental ballistic missile ( ICBM ) – which was felt to have similar deterrent value while being impossible to intercept . Because of this , the United States Air Force XB - 70 Valkyrie program was cancelled in the early 1960s ; the later B - 1B Lancer and B - 2 Spirit aircraft entered service only after protracted political and development problems . Their high cost meant that few were built and the 1950s - designed B - 52s remained in use into the 21st century . Similarly , the Soviet Union used the intermediate - range Tu - 22M ' Backfire ' in the 1970s , but their Mach 3 bomber project stalled . The Mach 2 Tu - 160 ' Blackjack ' was built only in tiny numbers , leaving the 1950s Tupolev Tu - 16 and Tu - 95 ' Bear ' heavy bombers to continue being used into the 21st century . The British strategic bombing force largely came to an end when the V bomber force was phased out ; the last of which left service in 1983 . The French Mirage IV bomber version was retired in 1996 , although the Mirage 2000N and the Rafale have taken on this role . The only other nation that fields strategic bombing forces is the People ' s Republic of China , which has a number of Xian H - 6 s . Modern era . In modern air forces , the distinction between bombers , fighter - bombers , and attack aircraft has become blurred . Many attack aircraft , even ones that " look " like fighters , are optimized to drop bombs , with very little ability to engage in aerial combat . Indeed , the design qualities that make an effective low - level attack aircraft make for a distinctly inferior air superiority fighter , and vice versa . Conversely , many fighter aircraft , such as the F - 16 , are often used as ' bomb trucks , ' despite being designed for aerial combat . Perhaps the one meaningful distinction at present is the question of range : a bomber is generally a long - range aircraft capable of striking targets deep within enemy territory , whereas fighter bombers and attack aircraft are limited to ' theater ' missions in and around the immediate area of battlefield combat . Even that distinction is muddied by the availability of aerial refueling , which greatly increases the potential radius of combat operations . Plans in the U . S . and Russia for successors to the current strategic bomber force remain only paper projects , and political and funding pressures suggest that they are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future . In the U . S . , current plans call for the existing USAF bomber fleet to remain in service until the mid - to - late 2020s , with the first possible replacements becoming operational in 2018 . After this bomber the U . S . is also thinking of another bomber in 2037 . The 2018 bomber will be made in small quantities as it will be a transition aircraft for this 2037 bomber . The 2018 bomber was , however , required to provide an answer to the fifth generation defense systems ( such as SA - 21 Growler s , bistatic radar and Active Electronically Scanned Array radar ) . Also , it was chosen to be able to stand against rising superpowers and other countries with semi - advanced military capability . Finally , a third reason was long - term air support for areas with a low threat level ( Iraq , Afghanistan ) . The latter was referred to as close air support for the global war on terror ( CAS for GWOT ) . The 2018 bomber would thus be able to stay for extended periods on a same location ( called persistence ) .