Editing Strategic bombing (section)

===Cold War===
{{see also|Nuclear triad}}
[[File:North American F-100D drops a dummy nuclear bomb 060905-F-1234S-068.jpg|thumb|A U.S. Air Force [[North American F-100|F-100C]] practices a nuclear bombing run.]]
[[Nuclear weapon]]s defined strategic bombing during the [[Cold War]]. The age of the massive strategic bombing campaign had come to an end. It was replaced by more devastating attacks using improved targeting and weapons technology. Strategic bombing by the [[Great Powers]] also became politically indefensible. The political fallout resulting from the destruction being broadcast on the evening news ended more than one strategic bombing campaign.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

==== Korean War ====
Strategic bombing during the Korean war was a huge part of the aerial warfare for the United States. It was widely used at targeting infrastructure and economic targets forcing the USSR and China to leverage more economically and materially in the supporting North Korean efforts. It was also consistently reliable for the US even amongst Chinese and USSR interference throughout the war.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

While nuclear weapons were never used, at the outset of the war the US Strategic Air Command was ready with 9 B-29s from the 9th Bomb Wing acting as an atomic task force which were sent to Guam on standby duty.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

The [[United States Air Force]] (USAF) at first conducted only tactical attacks against strategic targets. Because it was widely considered a [[limited war]], the [[Harry S. Truman|Truman Administration]] prohibited the USAF to bomb near the borders of China and the Soviet Union in fear of provoking the countries to enter into the war.<ref>{{harvnb|Thompson|Nalty|1996}}</ref> Common targets were railroad yards, bridges, and airfields, seeking to disrupt supply lines and ability to produce materials for the war. The first notable strategic bombing was a bombing consisting of nine B-29s which bombed the Rising Sun oil refinery at Wonsan on July 6, 1950, followed by a bombing of a chemical plant at Hungnam. Later that month on July 30 a Chosen nitrogen explosives factory at Hungnam was bombed destroying the largest of the Konan Industrial-Chemical Complex.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

The Chinese intervention in the war in November 1950 changed the aerial bombing policy dramatically. In response to the Chinese intervention, the USAF carried out an intensive bombing campaign against North Korea to demoralize the North Koreans and inflict as much economic cost to North Korea in order to reduce their ability to wage war. The largest incendiary raid of the war had 70 B-29s drop firebombs on the town of Sinuiju and was a representation for the change in aerial bombing policy. The extensive bombing raids on North Korea continued until the [[Korean Armistice Agreement|armistice agreement]] was signed between communist and UN forces on July 27, 1953.<ref>{{harvnb| National Museum of the US Air Force}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Futrell|1983}}</ref>

==== Vietnam War ====
In the [[Vietnam War]], the strategic bombing of North Vietnam in [[Operation Rolling Thunder]] could have been more extensive, but fear by the [[Lyndon Johnson|Johnson Administration]] of the entry of China into the war led to restrictions on the selection of targets, as well as only a gradual escalation of intensity.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

The aim of the bombing campaign was to demoralize the North Vietnamese, damage their economy, and reduce their capacity to support the war in the hope that they would negotiate for peace, but it failed to have those effects. The [[Richard Nixon|Nixon Administration]] continued this sort of limited strategic bombing for most of the war but pivoted towards the ending of it. [[Operation Linebacker]] campaigns were much heavier bombing campaigns taking off many of the restrictions that were placed initially and began flying B-52 bombers. Images such as that of [[Kim Phuc Phan Thi]] (although this incident was the result of [[close air support]] rather than strategic bombing) disturbed the American public enough to demand a stop to the campaign.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Due to this, and the ineffectiveness of carpet bombing (partly because of a lack of identifiable targets), new precision weapons were developed. The new weapons allowed more effective and efficient bombing with reduced civilian casualties. High civilian casualties had always been the [[hallmark]] of strategic bombing, but later in the Cold War, this began to change.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Laos was also bombed heavily during the Vietnam War. While originally denied by the US government Laos became the most heavily bombed country per capita as the result of more than 2 million tons of ordinance dropped.<ref>{{harvnb|U. S. Government|2010}}</ref> Laos contained heavy supply lines for communist troops and the US sought to destroy them safely before they could enter Vietnam and be used against American troops. The first of many targets within the country was the "Plain of Jars" which was known as a logistical center for military forces to gather and is the main air base in Urdon. While there were two different aerial operations held within Laos, Operation Steel Tiger is the one that focused on the Strategic Bombing of supporting civilian infrastructure that could aid in the up-and-coming communist regime and was assisting in getting rebels to aid the North Vietnamese military.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Strategic bombing was entering a new phase of high-intensity attacks, specifically targeting [[Factory|factories]] that take years to build and enormous investment capital. These new high-intensity and focused attacks made extra use of newer and modern fighter aircraft such as the [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II]] enabling less reliance on heavier, more vulnerable bombers.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

==== Iran-Iraq War ====
{{Main|War of the Cities}}
After the fall of 1981, in the context of the Iranian ground counter-offensives, the USSR lifted their arms embargo and massively rearmed Iraq, including with 40 MiG-25s, which enabled the Iraqi air force to challenge Iran's F-14s in their air space. Iraq used [[Tu-22|Tu-22 Blinder]] and [[Tu-16|Tu-16 Badger]] [[strategic bombers]] to carry out long-range high-speed raids on Iranian cities, including Tehran. Fighter-bombers such as the [[MiG-25|MiG-25 Foxbat]] and [[Su-22|Su-22 Fitter]] were used against smaller or shorter range targets, as well as [[Escort fighter|escorting]] the strategic bombers. Civilian and industrial targets were hit by the raids, and each successful raid inflicted economic damage from regular strategic bombing. Iran also launched several retaliatory air raids on Iraq, while primarily shelling border cities such as Basra. Iran also bought some [[Scud]] missiles from [[Libya]] and launched them against Baghdad. These too inflicted damage upon Iraq.{{cn|date=April 2025}}