Ever since it was possible for man to fly, attempts were made to manufacture and deliver bombs. In 1849, during the Austro-Venetian war, the Austrians made hot air balloons from paper and fitted them with small, time fused bombs. These were intended to drift towards Venice and then explode, although in reality they did very little damage. After the notorious Wright brother's early flying successes, many countries began to experiment with the bomb, Italy and the USA being early pioneers. The Italians are thought to be the first to drop bombs from aircraft, in 1911 during their war with Turkey.
The conventional bomb consists of four main components. The first is the case, which is filled with explosive. Secondly, to keep the bomb stable during flight, is the fin assembly. This is usually the tail section of the bomb. At least one fuse is required to ignite the explosive. This can be either on impact or after a preset delay. The fourth component is the arming assembly, which prepares the bomb for action and is normally triggered at the moment of release. In addition, a parachute is sometimes used to slow down the descent of the bomb.
A standard conventional bomb would have a very strong case, so that the speed it gathers during descent will enable the bomb to penetrate deep into a building before exploding, causing maximum damage. An incendiary bomb, however, is much more lightweight in construction and less aerodynamic. It has slower rate of descent as it does not need to penetrate before it ignites. Most of the damage caused by this type of bomb is from the resulting fire. Since World War II the bomb has become much more sophisticated. As well as the armour piercing variety there are laser guided bombs, cluster bombs, and of course those with nuclear or chemical payloads.
