 The appearance in 1935 of the Boeing B @-@ 17 bomber gave the bombardment advocates the weapon they had long dreamt of . Not only could it carry an impressive bomb load of 2 @,@ 500 pounds ( 1 @,@ 100 kg ) of bombs for 2 @,@ 260 miles ( 3 @,@ 640 km ) or 5 @,@ 000 pounds ( 2 @,@ 300 kg ) for 1 @,@ 700 miles ( 2 @,@ 700 km ) , but its top speed of 250 miles per hour ( 400 km / h ) was faster than that of the contemporary P @-@ 26 fighter . Its high speed also led the bombardment advocates to downplay the danger posed by antiaircraft fire . 
