Boeing B-29 Superfortress

The result of the realization that there was a need for a long range bomber to carry a larger payload of bombs, Boeing’s B-29 first flew in September 1942. Plagued early on by engine issues, the B-29, was dedicated to the pacific theater where it would begin strikes on Japan from operating bases in China and India. Those strikes began on June 5, 1944 and continued to the final bombs dropped of the war. The 20th Air Force was activated in April 1944 for the sole reason of the B-29 bombing campaign against Japan. Eventually the B-29 bases moved from the CBI theater to the Marianas islands, which included Saipan, Guam, and Tinian.