Skip to main content
Reserve Free Passes Membership
Visit
  • Visit

  • National Air and Space Museum in DC
  • Udvar-Hazy Center in VA
  • Plan a Field Trip
  • Plan a Group Visit
View of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center tower at sunset

One museum, two locations

Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in DC.

What's On
  • What's On

  • Events
  • Exhibitions
  • IMAX and Planetarium
Apollo 11: Buzz Aldrin on the Moon

At the museum and online

Discover our exhibitions and participate in programs both in person or virtually.

Explore
  • Explore

  • Stories
  • Topics
  • Collections
  • On Demand
  • For Researchers
space shuttle launch

Dive deep into air and space

Browse our collections, stories, research, and on demand content.

Learn
  • Learn

  • Programs
  • Learning Resources
  • Plan a Field Trip
  • Professional Development
Women in Aviation and Space Family Day

For teachers and parents

Bring the Air and Space Museum to your learners, wherever you are.

Give
  • Give

  • Donate
  • Become a Member
  • Wall of Honor
  • Ways to Give
  • Host an Event
Bob Hoover Gives an Air Show Performance

Be the spark

Your support will help fund exhibitions, educational programming, and preservation efforts.

Weapons

  1. Breadcrumb Home
  2. Weapons
War and Conflict
  • Afghanistan War
  • Gulf War
  • Iraq War
  • Korean War
  • Vietnam War
  • Cold War
  • World War I
  • World War II
  • Weapons
Aviation
  • Ultralights
  • Aircraft
  • Airships
  • Balloons
  • Helicopters
  • Commercial aviation
  • General aviation
  • Military aviation
  • Sports aviation
  • Vertical flight
  • Early flight
  • Interwar aviation
Spaceflight
  • Human spaceflight
  • Artemis program
  • Apollo program
  • Gemini program
  • Mercury program
  • Space Shuttle program
  • Commercial spaceflight
  • Uncrewed spaceflight
  • Spacecraft
  • Space stations
Astronomy
  • Telescopes
  • Stars
  • Sun
  • Solar System
  • Moon (Earth)
  • Small solar system bodies
  • Dwarf planets
  • Exoplanets
Behind the scenes
People
  • African American or Black people
  • Asian American or Asian people
  • Latino people
  • LGBTQ+ people
  • Native American or Indigenous peoples
  • Pacific Islander people
  • People with disabilities
  • Women
Records and Firsts
Science
  • Life sciences
  • Physical science
Society and Culture
  • Art
  • Science fiction
Technology and Engineering
  • Navigation
  • Reconnaissance
  • Drones
  • Missiles
  • Robotics
  • Rockets
  • Satellites
War and Conflict
  • Afghanistan War
  • Gulf War
  • Iraq War
  • Korean War
  • Vietnam War
  • Cold War
  • World War I
  • World War II
  • Weapons

Just barely over a decade after the Wrights' first flight, war clouds gathering on the eve of World War I convinced many that innovation would be needed to improve the airplane's military effectiveness. These hopes were realized when Italian aviator Giulio Gavotti dropped bombs from an Etrich Taube monoplane on Turkish troops in Libya, becoming history’s first aerial bomber in 1911. Today, aircraft are an essential weapon of war along with new technologies that have been developed since.

Jump to content:

  • Deep dives
  • Stories
  • From the Collection
  • Exhibitions

Deep dives

See all Deep dives

A dozen or more sopwith camel airplanes lined up in a row on a field. Men can be seen around the airplanes in various states of preparation for flight. Deep dive

The Evolution of World War I Aircraft


Stories

See all Stories

HGC-757 Story

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver: The “Big-Tailed Beast”

Airmen in gunner's seat in aircraft Story

Defending the Superbomber: The B-29’s Central Fire Control System

Single-seat, all-metal monocoque construction with a conventional layout, twin wings, and twin vertical fins and rudders. Story

Japanese Wonder Weapons

Entrance to tunnel Story

 “Wonder Weapons” and Slave Labor

Grainy, black and white photo of a missile taking off a submarine. Story

The Tomahawk and U.S. Cruise Missile Technology

From the Collection

See all on Collections

Nose of General Atomics MQ-1L Predator A UAV

General Atomics MQ-1L Predator A

Object
Three quarter frontal view of nose and cockpit exterior of four-engine bomber, displayed in hangar.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay

Object

Missile, Surface-to-Surface, V-2 (A-4), Lifting Eyes

Object

Exhibitions

See all Exhibitions

Arado Ar 234 B Blitz at the Udvar-Hazy Center Exhibition

World War II German Aviation

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
On View Exhibition
Inside a gallery, the photograph showcases four World War I era biplanes, one sitting on the ground and three hanging as though in flight. In the back corner is also a balloon basket. On the right wall are a variety of other artifacts. Exhibition

World War I: The Birth of Military Aviation

National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
On View Exhibition

Explore other subtopics

  • Cold War
  • World War I
  • World War II
  • Korean War
  • Vietnam War
  • Afghanistan War
  • Gulf War
  • Iraq War
  • Weapons

Admission is always free.
Open daily 10:00 am – 5:30 pm

National Air and Space Museum

National Air and Space Museum 650 Jefferson Drive SW
Washington, DC

202-633-2214

Free Timed-Entry Passes Required

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center 14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151

703-572-4118

  • About
  • Become a Member
  • Newsroom
  • Host an Event
  • Get Involved
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Accessibility