Weapons Development in Context: The Case of the World War I Balloon Bomber

Abstract

In 1918, the United States Army carried out a program to develop unmanned, wind-driven balloons as bomb-carrying attack vehicles. The objective was to blanket all of Germany with incendiary bombs and canisters of lethal gas by launching bombers in enormous numbers from bases in France where prevailing winds would carry them eastward. The program succeeded, and preparations for the balloon bomber offensive were under way when the armistice intervened. Because the program was cloaked by a cover story that disguised its true purpose, the development of this weapon has remained virtually unknown. This account thus fills a small gap in the historical record. From an analytical perspective, however, the significance of the World War I balloon bomber stems from it being the earliest example, albeit in primitive form, of what are today called of mass destruction. Hence, by providing a window on the interplay of technological, social, economic, and military factors involved in the decision to develop one of the first weapons of this kind, this case study sheds light on the genesis of indiscriminate mass bombing as a calculated method of warfare. Background The invention of the balloon in 1783 was followed by suggestions for using balloons in warfare, including proposals to employ them as bombers. Since artillery was a reliable means of bombarding targets at distances up to a mile away, proponents of aerial bombardment realized that balloons would become useful only if they could be brought to bear on more distant targets. These could be reached by bomb-carrying balloons in only two ways: by powering them so they could be steered to the target or by launching them in numbers sufficient to ensure that the wind would cause some to drift over it. Both options were attempted in