Evolution of Long-Range Escort Doctrine in World War II

摘要

The United States entered World War II with a doctrine of unescorted bombing because the Army Air Corps planners believed the B-17 was invincible. Early results proved the B-17 was not invincible and a new doctrine was needed. The deployment of the P-51 provided an aircraft that could effectively escort the bombers on long-range missions, and the doctrine was changed to escorted bombing. The study examines how the doctrine was developed initially, how and why it was changed, and the success that was achieved before and after the change.