A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy and limit the exposure to and effectiveness of anti-aircraft fire. The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Stu rz' ka' mpfflugzeug, " Dive bomber " was a two-seat (pilot and rear gunner A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military Aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces This type of aircraft was most heavily used before and during World War II; its use fell into decline shortly afterwards. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
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Technique
Diving (nearly) vertically at the target, in the same direction the bombs will take, the aircraft will release the bombs very close to the target at high speed. This allows a dive bomber to accurately place bombs on relatively small and/or moving targets with relative ease. Additionally, no complicated precision bombsight is needed for targeting. A bombsight is a device used by Bomber aircraft to assist in the task of accurately dropping Bombs on a ground target
Dive bombers were widely used to attack high value targets such as ships and bridges. This also had the advantage of attacking ships at a weak spot; armour was the heaviest near the waterline and thin or nonexistent on the deck. In addition, dive bombing allowed relatively small airplanes carrying limited bombload to inflict disproportionately heavy damage.
On the minus side, optimizing an airplane for near-vertical dives came at the expense of performance. In addition, a dive bomber was extremely vulnerable to ground fire as it dived towards its target. Dive brakes were employed on many designs. These created drag which slowed the aircraft somewhat in order to increase accuracy. In Fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called fluid resistance) is the force that resists the movement of a Solid object through a Fluid (a These were almost exclusive to dive bombers, though the air brakes fitted to modern aircraft are often of a similar design. In Aeronautics, air brakes are a type of flight control used on Aircraft to reduce speed during landing
History
World War I
The first recorded use of dive bombing was an ad-hoc solution by RAF pilots during World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All During 1917 and 1918 they practiced the technique at the Orford Ness Bombing Range, but the aircraft of the day were generally too frail to be able to withstand the acceleration generated when pulling out of the dive after releasing the bombload. Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Orford Ness is a Cuspate foreland shingle spit on the Suffolk coast in Great Britain, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh and stretching Only a few years later, U.S. Marines nevertheless put the system to use in Haiti and Nicaragua. Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: Nicaragua (ˌnɪkəˈrɑgwə officially the Republic of Nicaragua () is a representative democratic republic and the largest nation in Central America
As planes grew in strength and load capability, the technique became more valuable. By the early 1930s, the technique was clearly favored in tactical doctrine, notably against targets that would otherwise be too small to hit with level bombers. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. A level bomber is a Bomber aircraft capable of attacking a ground object with bombs While the USAAC concentrated on mass attacks by very large bombers, the U.S. Navy ordered the first custom dive bomber aircraft, the Curtiss F8C Hell-Diver biplane (not to be confused with the single-winged Douglas SBD or later SB2C Helldiver). The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC was the predecessor of the U WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
Generally, dive bombing was a technique preferred by naval air forces. Their aircraft often had to operate from small airfields or ships, which limited their size. They, in turn, had to attack small, often moving targets, such as ships. The combination of small bombload and need for accuracy made dive bombing techniques more attractive than other alternatives.
World War II
Oddly the only major force not to deploy a dedicated dive bomber were the inventors, the British. The Royal Navy attempted to introduce their own on several occasions, but were never able to do so due to various reasons, not the least of which was political interference by the RAF. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) The only produced hybrid of dive bomber and fighter Blackburn Skua was used for a short time and in a small number. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
Atlantic theater
In the early 1930s, Ernst Udet visited the U. Colonel General Ernst Udet ( April 26 1896 – November 17 1941) was the second-highest scoring German Flying S. and was able to purchase four F8Cs and ship them to Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. There they caused a minor revolution. The dive bombing technique would allow a much smaller Luftwaffe to operate effectively in the tactical role, and this was all they were interested in. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. Soon they had sent out contracts for their own dive bomber designs, resulting in the gull-winged Junkers Ju 87 Stuka (a contraction of Sturzkampfflugzeug, literally "diving warplane"). The gull wing is an aircraft configuration with a prominent bend in the Wing somewhere along the span, generally near the Wing root. The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Stu rz' ka' mpfflugzeug, " Dive bomber " was a two-seat (pilot and rear gunner
For its day, the Stuka was the most advanced dive bomber in the world. Using it as "aerial artillery" solved a major problem in the concept of Blitzkrieg—how to attack dug-in defensive positions. Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war" is a popular name for an Offensive operational-level Military doctrine which involves an initial Normally this would require slow-moving artillery to be used, making the fast moving armored forces wait for it to catch up. Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine
This was proven to great effect during the invasion of Poland and the Low Countries. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt In one particular example, the British Expeditionary Force set up strong defensive positions on the west bank of the Oire River just front of the rapidly advancing German armor. The British Expeditionary Force ( BEF) was the British army sent to the Western Front in France and Belgium on the outbreak of Attacks by Stukas quickly broke the defense, and combat engineers were able to force a crossing long before the artillery arrived.
The Stuka soon grew outdated, and repeated efforts to replace it with a newer and more capable plane all failed. By the start of the Battle of Britain it was already hopelessly outclassed, and suffered at the hands of the RAF. The Battle of Britain (German ''Luftschlacht um England'' is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the German Luftwaffe during the summer and
Pacific theater
The Japanese also spent considerable effort on dive bombers, for the same reason as the U. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. S. Navy—to allow it to strike ships. They started the war with one of the best designs, the Aichi D3A, but this design also quickly became outdated. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout They later introduced the much better Yokosuka D4Y Suisei, but at a time when their industry was already unable to supply them in any numbers. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout In contrast, the U. S. fielded the Douglas SBD Dauntless which was similar to the D3A in performance, but later replaced it with the faster, more complex Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American Aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach California. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Curtis is a common Given name or Surname of English origin In English the meaning of the name Curtis is 'polite courteous or well-bred' WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Both were provided in large numbers.
The most famous example of successful naval dive-bombing attacks took place in the Battle of Midway in June 1942 when American Dauntlesses scored fatal hits on three separate first-line Japanese aircraft carriers within a six minute timespan. The Battle of Midway was a major Naval battle, widely regarded as the most important one of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
Decline
After the war, the dive bomber class quickly disappeared. Anti-aircraft warfare had improved as had the speed and effectiveness of fighter aircraft against the vulnerable, slow-flying dive bombers. Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military Aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces At the same time the quality of various computing bombsights allowed for much better accuracy from smaller dive angles, and the sights could be fitted to almost any plane, especially fighter aircraft, much improving the effectivness of ground attack aircraft. A fighter aircraft is a Military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other Aircraft, as opposed to a Bomber, which is designed Ground-attack aircraft are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground and are often deployed as Close air support for and in proximity to their own ground forces Although the aircraft could still "dive" on their targets to some degree, they were no longer optimized for steep diving attacks at the expense of other capabilities as the dive bombers of old. As these same aircraft were capable of many other missions as well, they were no longer considered to be dive bombers.
Today, smart bombs have replaced most other bombing techniques in the United States and the UK. Bombs can be dropped many miles from the target at high altitudes, placing the aircraft at little risk. The bomb then guides itself onto the target through a number of means. These include laser designation, onboard GPS, radar, infrared, television guidance, and inertial wind-correction. A laser is a device that emits Light ( Electromagnetic radiation) through a process called Stimulated emission. Basic concept of GPS operation A GPS receiver calculates its position by carefully timing the signals sent by the constellation of GPS Satellites high above the Earth Bombsights continue to supply several "toss bombing" modes, a sort of reverse dive bombing when an aircraft releases its bomb while steeply pulling up from low level. Toss bombing (sometimes known as loft bombing) is a method of Bombing where the attacking Aircraft pulls upwards when releasing its bomb load giving the Shallow, 45 degree or less dive bombing attacks are still used to deliver unguided bombs when they are employed.
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