: how are bombs dropped from a bomber aircraft able to strike their targets so precisely without risking hitting any civilian infrastructure

Question

: how are bombs dropped from a bomber aircraft able to strike their targets so precisely without risking hitting any civilian infrastructure

In: Other

Answer 1

First, bombs often do hit civilian infrastructure, governments try to downplay this though, for obvious reasons.

The accuracy of dumb bombs depends on how accurately the plane is following its planned track, on the wind below the plane, the altitude from which the bomb is dropped, the mass and aerodynamics of the bomb, and on the timing of the release.

Smarter bombs will have some form of guidance, maybe aiming at a laser spot somebody is shining on the target, on the heat or radar signature of a vehicle, or preprogrammed GPS coordinates. They then change the angle of control fins to steer towards their target.