From the Library of Congress comes this photograph circa 1911 showing a primitive bomb bay. A commentor noted:

On 10 October the school conducted the first military trials of a bombsight and dropping device which had been invented by Riley E. Scott, a former coast artillery officer. The tests took place at College Park in an Army Wright B plane flown by Milling; Scott, lying prone on the lower wing, operated the bombing device, which was placed directly in front of the wing.” Not long after, Scott won a $5,000 Michelin prize in a bomb-dropping competition in Paris.

Today, we have unmanned predator drones carrying much of the load, particularly over Waziristan, as this LA Times article explains:

As part of an escalating offensive against extremist targets in Pakistan, the United States is deploying Predator aircraft equipped with sophisticated new surveillance systems that were instrumental in crippling the insurgency in Iraq, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.

The use of the specially equipped drones comes amid a fundamental shift in U.S. strategy in the area. After years of deferring to Pakistani authorities, the Bush administration is turning toward unilateral American military operations — a gambit that could increase pressure on Islamic militants but risks alienating a country that has been a key counter-terrorism ally.

In an indication of the priority being given to the Pakistan campaign, U.S. officials said the specially equipped aircraft were being pulled from other theaters to augment aerial patrols above the tribal belt along Afghanistan’s eastern border.

Pakistan’s government has found itself caught between Washington’s demands for action and the unpopularity of the U.S. campaign, which has included half a dozen Predator strikes and a ground raid in the last few weeks.

This morning, witnesses said, at least eight people were believed killed in what appeared to be a Predator strike in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border.

Read it all.