Area bombardment
（重定向自Area bombing）
![This Tokyo residential section was virtually destroyed after a massive firebombing raid by the U.S. Army Air Forces B-29s on March 9–10, 1945, the single most destructive raid in military aviation history. The bombing of Tokyo in World War II cut the city's industrial productivity in half.](/Images/godic/202412/21/Tokyo_1945-3-10-15051.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202412/21/Lancaster_area_bombing_load_IWM_CH_183715051.jpg")
In military aviation, area bombardment (or area bombing) is a type of aerial bombardment that targeted indiscriminately at a large area, such as a city block or an entire city. The term "area bombing" came into prominence during World War II.
Area bombing is a form of strategic bombing. It can serve several intertwined purposes: to disrupt the production of military materiel, to disrupt lines of communications, to divert the enemy's industrial and military resources from the primary battlefield to air defence, and to demoralise the enemy's population (See terror bombing).