A total of 76 bombers from the Eighth Air Force are dispatched for a raid on Kiel, Germany, without fighters. Sixty make it to the target, but 22 are shot down, highlighting the need for fighter escorts. Among those killed that day was Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest III, the first American general killed in combat during the war in Europe.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.