Malta exposes a gap between destructive air attack and the much larger bomber forces imagined in theories of decisive strategic bombing. Italy and Germany conducted the campaign mainly with medium bombers and lacked an Allied-scale heavy-bomber fleet able to deliver thousand-bomber raids. Giulio Douhet's vision of city-destroying air power demanded payloads and effects beyond what the Axis could sustain over Malta. The criticism is that weapons capable of wiping out whole cities invite mutual deterrence, while smaller forces cannot deliver the promised coercion. Repeated raids could devastate Maltese buildings and lives without forcing the island to surrender.
Notable Point · 2:43:56-2:49:58
Medium bombers and the limits of Axis air power over Malta
Axis air forces inflicted severe damage on Malta, but medium-bomber dependence and limited heavy-bomber production fell short of the scale imagined by Giulio Douhet.