carpet bombing
Area-wide aerial assault
Carpet bombing is an aerial attack that drops bombs across a wide area rather than targeting specific sites, aiming to destroy everything within the zone.
The strategy emerged in World War II and became controversial for causing massive civilian casualties.
Figuratively, carpet bombing describes any indiscriminate saturation approach: The campaign carpet-bombed voters with attack ads.
- airstrikeAircraft-delivered military attack
- air raidAerial military attack
- bombardmentSustained projectile assault
- DresdenSaxon capital city
- B-52Heavy strategic bomber
rolling thunder · military tactics · total war · London Blitz · collateral damage · firestorms · saturation · blitz · war crimes · civilians · civilian casualties · targets · enemy territory · close air support · craters · napalm · ground zero · warplanes
- warfarebattle, combat, attack, war, armed conflict
- wartimerationing, war economy, war bonds, war effort, evacuations
- destructiondestruction, destroying, demolishing, devastation, ruination
- war violencemassacre, bombardment, shelling, combat, battle
- aggressive tacticsblitz, blitzkrieg, frontal assault, offensive, attack mode
- Air Combatair strike, airstrikes, fighter pilot, combat aircraft, Sparrow
carpet bombingprecision strike
Targeted military attack
surgical strike · drone strike · sniper attack · sniper fire · assassination
carpet bombingcovert operation
Unacknowledged governmental action
peacekeeping · ceasefire · guerrilla warfare · cyberattack · sabotage