B-29 Superfortress

Part of the United States strategy in WWII was overwhelming airpower that could strike at the heart of the enemy. Over time, this strike capability would become part of any US military plans in future conflicts. But at the start of the second World War, the United States did not have such a capability. The US first strikes on Japan were launched by B-25 Mitchells from aircraft carriers that barely were able to land in China. The strikes were weak and did not do much damage to the Japenese industrial base. The B-24 and B-17 bombers, both tremendous heavy bombers, had to be launched from bases in Britain and could not strike Japan. Military planners knew that the US would have to develop a long-range strategic bomber that could take out the enemy's capacity to make war.

Enter, the B-29 Superfortress. 

As early as 1940, US planners decided the United States would need a long-range strategic bomber. After analyzing the performance of bombers in Europe and knowing the limited range of the B-17 and B-24 bombers, the US Army Air Corps knew that they would need a new bomber had to have the ability to strike Japan. 

Boeing answered this call by creating the XB-29, a prototype of the B-29. The bomber had many new features such as a pressurized cabin, a pressurized rear turret, larger payload, and remote control turrets. The Air Corp was very impressed with this designed and even before the first test flight, they placed an order for 1,500 aircraft. Less than a year later, the B-29 Superfortress was in full production. Manufacturing took some time as the plane was so advanced. Changes and modifications were coming so fast with the bomber that new planes coming off the production line had to be sent to modification depots to get updated. 

By 1944 though, the bomber was able to enter service. On June 5th, 1944 the B-29 officially entered service, striking railroad shops in Bangkok. Then, on June 24th, 1944 the first B-29s struck Japan. These missions from India and China would continue until the US capture of the Marianas Islands. Here, the US could launch bombers from Guam, Saipan, and Tinian. Bombing campaigns would continue from these islands coming to an apex with the atomic bombings on August 6th and August 9th. By the end of the war, the B-29 had whipped out Japan's capacity to make war and their willingness to fight to a staggeringly brutal effectiveness. They demonstrated what US military planners had hoped; that long-range strategic bombing could win a war by knocking out an enemy's ability and capacity to make war. The mission and the work of the B-29 would lay out the groundwork for the next generations of American Strategic bombers; aircraft such as the B-36, B-47, B-52, B-1B, B-2, and in development today, the B-21.



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https://www.fighter-planes.com/info/b29.htm
http://www.boeing.com/history/products/b-29-superfortress.page