Invasion stripes

Aircraft in WW2 used a “Identification, friend or foe (IFF)” system to avoid friendly fire. Before the D-Day invasion the Allies realized that the system wouldn’t scale to handle the thousands of aircraft involved in the invasion. So, they moved to a low-tech solution. “Invasion stripes were alternating black and white bands painted on the fuselages and wings of Allied aircraft during World War II to reduce the chance that they would be attacked by friendly forces during and after the Normandy Landings.” | learn more