Know the weapon- Bomber Aircrafts

B-2 Spirit (Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Air force)

A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, firing torpedoes at them, or, more recently, by launching cruise missiles at them

History:

The first use of an air-dropped bomb (actually a hand grenade) was carried out by Italian Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti^[1] during the 1911 Italo-Turkish war in Libya, although his plane was not designed for the task of bombing, and his improvised attack had little impact.

The first heavier-than-air aircraft purposely designed for bombing were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both of 1913.^[2] The Bristol T.B.8 was an early British single engined biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. They were fitted with a prismatic Bombsight in the front cockpitand a cylindrical bomb carrier in the lower forward fuselage capable of carrying twelve 10 lb (4.5 kg) bombs, which could be dropped singly or as a salvo as required.

The aircraft was purchased for use both by the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and three T.B.8s, that were being displayed inParis during December 1913 fitted with bombing equipment, were sent to France following the outbreak of war. Under the command of Charles Rumney Samson, a bombing attack on German gun batteries at Middelkerke, Belgium was executed on 25 November 1914.

The dirigible, or airship, was developed in the early 20th century. Early airships were prone to disaster, but slowly the airship became more dependable, with a more rigid structure and stronger skin. Prior to the outbreak of war, Zeppelins, a larger and more streamlined form of airship designed by German Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin, were outfitted to carry bombs to attack targets at long range. These were the first long range, strategic bombers. Although the German air arm was strong, with a total of 123 airships by the end of the war, they were vulnerable to attack and engine failure, as well as navigational issues. German airships inflicted little damage on all 51 raids, with 557 Britons killed and 1,358 injured. The German Navy lost 53 of its 73 airships, and the Germany Army lost 26 of its 50 ships.

Caproni Ca.3, an Italian World War I heavy bomber, 1915.

While mainly used as a trainer, Avro 504s were also briefly used as bombers at the start of the First World War by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) when they were used for raids on the German airship shedsThe Caproni Ca 30 was built by Gianni Caproni in Italy. It was a twin-boom biplane with three 67 kW (80 hp) Gnome rotary engines and first flew in October 1914. Test flights revealed power to be insufficient and the engine layout unworkable, and Caproni soon adopted a more conventional approach. The improved design was bought by the Italian Army and it was delivered in quantity from August 1915.

Classification of Bombers

Strategic  Bombers

Strategic bombing is done by heavy bombers primarily designed for long-range bombing missions against strategic targets such as supply bases, bridges, factories, shipyards, and cities themselves, in order to diminish the enemy's ability to wage war by limiting access to resources through crippling infrastructure or reducing industrial output. Current examples include the strategic nuclear-armed strategic bombers: B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress,Tupolev Tu-95 'Bear', Tupolev Tu-22M 'Backfire'; historically notable examples are the: Gotha G.IV, Avro Lancaster, Heinkel He-111, Junkers Ju 88,Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, Boeing B-29 Superfortress, and Tupolev Tu-16 'Badger'.

Bombing raids and interdiction operations were mainly carried out by French and British forces during the War as the German air arm was forced to concentrate its resources on a defensive strategy. Notably, bombing campaigns formed a part of the British offensive at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915, with Royal Flying Corps squadrons attacking German railway stations in an attempt to hinder the logistical supply of the German army. The early, improvised attempts at bombing that characterized the early part of the war slowly gave way to a more organized and systematic approach to strategic and tactical bombing, pioneered by various air power strategists of the Entente, especially Major Hugh Trenchard; he was the first to advocate that there should be "...sustained [strategic bombing] attacks with a view to interrupting the enemy's railway communications...in conjunction with the main operations of the Allied Armies."

When the war started, bombing was very crude (hand-held bombs were thrown over the side) yet by the end of the war long-range bombers equipped with complex mechanical bombing computers were being built, designed to carry large loads to destroy enemy industrial targets. The most important bombers used in WWI were the French Breguet 14, British de Havilland DH-4, German Albatros C.III and Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets. The Russian [[Sikorsky Ilya Muromets]], was the first four-engine bomber to equip a dedicated strategic bombing unit during World War I. This heavy bomber was unrivaled in the early stages of the war, as the Central Powers had no comparable aircraft until much later.

Long range bombing raids were carried out at night by multi-engined biplanes such as the Gotha G.IV (whose name was synonymous with all multi-engine German bombers) and later the Handley Page Type O; the majority of bombing was done by single-engined biplanes with one or two crew-members flying short distances to attack enemy lines and immediate hinterland. As the effectiveness of a bomber was dependent on the weight and accuracy of its bombload, ever larger bombers were developed starting in WWI, while considerable money was spent developing suitable bomb sights

Tactical Bomber

Tactical bombing, aimed at countering enemy military activity and in supporting offensive operations, is typically assigned to smaller aircraft operating at shorter ranges, typically near the troops on the ground or against enemy shipping. This role is filled by tactical bomber class, which crosses and blurs with various other aircraft categories: light bombers, medium bombers, dive bombers, interdictors, fighter-bombers, attack aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, and others. Current examples: F-15E Strike Eagle, F/A-18 Hornet, Sukhoi Su-27, Xian JH-7, Dassault-BreguetMirage 2000, and the Panavia Tornado; historical examples: Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik, Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Hawker Typhoon, McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II andMikoyan MiG-27.

World War-2

With engine power as a major limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors, bomber designs tended to be tailored to specific roles. By the start of the war this included:

• dive bomber - specially strengthened for vertical diving attacks for greater accuracy.
• light bomber, medium bomber and heavy bomber - subjective definitions based on size.
• torpedo bomber - specialized aircraft armed with torpedoes.
• ground attack aircraft - aircraft used against targets on a battlefield such as troop or tank concentrations. A further specialized form was the anti-tank aircraft.
• night bomber - specially equipped to operate at night when opposing defences are limited.
• maritime patrol - long range bombers that were used against enemy shipping, particularly submarines.
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Bombers are not intended to attack other aircraft although most were fitted with defensive weapons. World War II saw the beginning of the widespread use of high speed bombers which dispensed with defensive weapons to be able to attain higher speed, such as with the de Havilland Mosquito, a philosophy that continued with many Cold War bombers.

Some smaller designs have been used as the basis for night fighters, and a number of fighters, such as the Hawker Hurricane were used as ground attack aircraft, replacing earlier conventional light bombers that proved unable to defend themselves while carrying a useful bomb load.

Cold War

At the start of the Cold War, bombers were the only means of carrying nuclear weapons to enemy targets, and had the role of deterrence. With the advent of guided air to air missiles, bombers needed to avoid interception. High speed and high altitude flying became a means of evading detection and attack. Designs such as the English Electric Canberra could fly faster or higher than contemporary fighters. When surface to air missiles became capable of hitting high flying bombers, bombers were flown at low altitudes to evade radar detection and interception.

Once "stand off" nuclear weapon designs were developed, bombers did not need to pass over the target to make an attack; they could fire and turn away to escape the blast. Nuclear strike aircraft were generally finished in bare metal or anti-flash white to minimize absorption of thermal radiation from the flash of a nuclear explosion. 

         

TU-160 ( Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Sergey Krivchikov)

The need to drop conventional bombs remained in conflicts with non-nuclear powers, such as the Vietnam War or Malayan Emergency.

The development of large strategic bombers stagnated in the later part of the Cold War because of spiraling costs and the development of theIntercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – which was felt to have similar deterrent value while being impossible to intercept. Because of this, the United States Air Force XB-70 Valkyrie program was cancelled in the early 1960s; the later B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit aircraft entered service only after protracted political and development problems. Their high cost meant that few were built and the 1950s-designed B-52s remained in use into the 21st century. Similarly, the Soviet Union used the intermediate-range Tu-22M 'Backfire'in the 1970s, but their Mach 3 bomber project stalled. The Mach 2 Tu-160 'Blackjack' was built only in tiny numbers, leaving the 1950s Tupolev Tu-16 and Tu-95 'Bear' heavy bombers to continue being used into the 21st century.

The British strategic bombing force largely came to an end when the V bomber force was phased out; the last of which left service in 1983. The French Mirage IV bomber version was retired in 1996, although the Mirage 2000N and the Rafale have taken on this role. The only other nation that fields strategic bombing forces is the People's Republic of China, which has a number of Xian H-6s.

Modern Era

In modern air forces, the distinction between bombers, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft has become blurred. Many attack aircraft, even ones that looklike fighters, are optimized to drop bombs, with very little ability to engage in aerial combat. Indeed, the design qualities that make an effective low-level attack aircraft make for a distinctly inferior air superiority fighter, and vice versa. Conversely, many fighter aircraft, such as the F-16, are often used as 'bomb trucks,' despite being designed for aerial combat. Perhaps the one meaningful distinction at present is the question of range: a bomber is generally a long-range aircraft capable of striking targets deep within enemy territory, whereas fighter bombers and attack aircraft are limited to 'theater' missions in and around the immediate area of battlefield combat. Even that distinction is muddied by the availability of aerial refueling, which greatly increases the potential radius of combat operations.

Plans in the U.S. and Russia for successors to the current strategic bomber force remain only paper projects, and political and funding pressures suggest that they are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. In the U.S., current plans call for the existing USAF bomber fleet to remain in service until the mid-to-late 2020s, with the first possible replacements becoming operational in 2018.^[8] After this bomber the U.S. is also considering another bomber in 2037. The 2018 bomber will be made in small quantities, as it will be a transition aircraft for this 2037 bomber. The 2018 bomber is, however, required to provide an answer to the fifth generation defense systems (such as SA-21 Growlers, bistatic radar and active electronically scanned array radar). Also, it has been chosen to be able to stand against rising superpowers and other countries with semi-advanced military capability. Finally, a third reason is the role of long-term air support for areas with a low threat level (Iraq, Afghanistan), the latter referred to as close air support for the global war on terror (CAS for GWOT). The 2018 bomber would thus be able to stay for extended periods on a same location (called persistence).

Bomber Types

• Amerika Bomber - very long range German World War 2 bomber intended to attack cities in North America from Europe and return.
• Army cooperation aircraft or Scout bomber - also carries out tactical reconnaissance in addition to bombing, are also known as reconnaissance bomber or close support aircraft. Overlaps with observation category.
• Bomber-transport - aircraft that combine the functions of a transport and a bomber. Primarily used from the 1920s into the early 1940s.
• Counter-insurgency aircraft - light attack bombers used against guerrillas. Many were converted trainers.
• Dive bomber - bomber specially strengthened to allow attacks from a near vertical dive - used only from the mid-1930s until the late 1940s. German designation was Sturzkampfflugzeugoften shortened to Stuka.
• Fighter-bomber - fighter that have a limited ability to attack ground targets. May be obsolete as fighters.
• General purpose aircraft - British 1920s and 1930s term for a multi-role aircraft used for light bombing, observation, training and sometimes as a fighter.
• Ground attack - also known as attack bombers, shturmovik and schlachtflugzeug - light and medium bombers used in a tactical role. Often armoured against ground fire.
• Heavy bomber - subjective description of size compared to contemporary types - definition varies by country and era, and reclassification as larger aircraft enter service is common. The German World War I designations grossflugzeuge (large aircraft) and riesenflugzeuge (giant aircraft) are analogous.
• Interdictor - bombers designed to attack targets behind the enemy front lines, with the intention of preventing forces and material reaching the battlefront.
• Level bomber - opposite of a dive bomber, aircraft flies at a constant altitude while dropping bombs. Term only current during the late 1930s and early 1940s
• Light bomber - subjective description of size compared to contemporary types - definition varies by country and era, and in general used from the 1920s to 1950s. Often single or two seat single engine propeller powered aircraft.
• Master Bomber - marked targets with smoke and flares during World War 2 for other bombers to aim for. Sometimes referred to as a Pathfinder.
• Medium bomber - subjective description of size compared to contemporary types - definition varies by country and era.
• Minelayer - aircraft used to deploy minefields - can be nearly any type of bomber.
• Night Bomber - bomber designed for making attacks at night when intercepting fighters are at a disadvantage.
• Maritime reconnaissance/Maritime patrol/Patrol bomber - used to control sealanes - can usually attack ships and in later examples, submarines. Most modern examples are converted transports.
• Schnellbomber - German designation for high speed bomber, used speed to avoid interception, however increases in speed of intercepting fighter usually made these obsolete quickly.
• Stealth bomber - bomber designed and equipped to make detection by radar and infra-red devices difficult.
• Strategic bomber - bomber used to destroy targets having a long term strategic impact - such as industrial production or transportation networks.
• Strike fighter - similar to ground attack or fighter-bomber and may have minimal air to air combat capabilities.
• Tactical bomber - bomber used to destroy targets in direct support of ground operations.
• Torpedo bomber - bomber whose primary weapon is a torpedo. First examples appeared during World War I, term rare since the 1960s when other weapons became available and reduced specialization. Related types include torpedo-fighter (similar to fighter bomber) and torpedo-dive bomber.
• Ural bomber - early 1930s German long range bomber program.
• V bomber - series of 3 heavy strategic jet bombers produced by the British in the 1950s.

( Info credits Wikipedia)