At lower altitudes, the lack of armament made the aircraft vulnerable to fighters. Fighters and bombers typically had two to four machine guns, sometimes six. The Air Corps became polarized between bomber and pursuit advocates, where the dominant doctrine of employing self–protecting bomber formationsdevalued the role of long–range escort. For the bomber offensive as a whole, Eighth Air Force lost 4,182 aircraft from a total of 273,841 attacking, a rate of 1. By 1944 the Americans knew that bombers had to be protected by long-range fighter escorts. They repeatedly rejected the idea of a long range escort fighter because they felt that the combat box was sufficient protection for the. Higher ratio of funds/typical aircraft developement cost. Meanwhile, bomber losses mounted. Fortunately, US fighter range steadily grew, and with the introduction of drop tanks, American P-38 and P-47 fighters began escorting B-17s and B-24 to targets deeper within the Third Reich. Originally a dual-capable bomber, the B-1 was converted in 2007-2011 to exclusively carry conventional ordnance. Used as both a high-altitude escort fighter and a low-level fighter-bomber, the P-47 quickly gained a reputation for ruggedness. The P-38Hs of the 55th Fighter Group were transferred to the Eighth in England in September 1943, and were joined by the 20th, 364th and 479th Fighter Groups soon after. As mentioned, attacking a bomber formation was never a trivial matter, but the Luftwaffe were effective against the unescorted raids of 1943. Performance parameters include a 9,150 metre service ceiling, Mach 1. The B-52 is a long-range, heavy bomber that can perform a variety of missions. 4 percent and remainedIn addition to a defensive fighter, the adaptable Yak-9s were also put to uses such as reconnaissance, long-range bomber escorts, nighttime fighters, armed with 37mm or 45mm cannons and used as tank busters, general ground attacks, and when equipped with bomb loads of up to 1000 pounds, the planes could also serve as light. Norwegian Armed Forces. The IJN Zero fighter was armed with the more destructive 20mm (. S. / The War / 'Black Week': The Darkest Days for the… Article 'Black Week': The Darkest Days for the US Army Air Forces In the span of only a few days in October 1943, the US. If you were to put up 24 unescorted B17 against 40 late war German fighters I doubt the result would be very different. The best protection bombers could get from their “little friends,” as the bomber crews called their escort fighters, was primarily from the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. " 1,150 mi (1,850 km, 1,000 nmi) with 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) bombload and 1,153 US gal (4,365 l) of fuel" The bombers never flew straight out and back, they used dog legs and diversions,. It was not until the introduction of a long-range fighter that could escort bombers deep into Germany and back, that a daylight strategy became possible. As Americans bombed targets in the daytime, they. For the remaining 200 miles the bombers flew without any fighter protection. When the new B-21—the Air Force’s next-gen stealth bomber—goes to war, it will do so without a drone escort. However, the P-51B was introduced as a tactical fighter, so the first deliveries of the P-51B in November 1943 were assigned to three groups in the tactical Ninth Air Force at the expense of VIII Bomber Command, whose need for a long range escort fighter was critical. P-38 Lightnings were used extensively as a long-range escort fighter during World War II and saw action in practically every major combat area of the world. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates —. The XF-88 design was revisited by the USAF and it was acknowledged that the need for a long-range escort jet-powered fighter was still there. A kindred experiment to modify the B-24 Liberator to become a bomber-escort gunship turned out to be too little, too late. High-speed bombers were less relevant. The top hat markings represent bomber escort missions. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s. Now able to escort bombers all the way to the Berlin, the Allies launched Operation Argument, known as “Big Week,” in February 1944. As a result, the October Schweinfurt raid’s 291 bombers were escorted for only the first 200 miles of their trek. On 17 August 1943, 60 out of 376 American bombers were lost! Almost all the losses coming beyond the range of the bomber escort. Casualties for this raid were at an unsustainable loss rate of 16%, forcing the USAAF to back off its cherished concept of self-defending bombers, and accelerate efforts in fielding an escort fighter. Designating the aircraft Fortress Mk I, the aircraft performed poorly during high-altitude raids in the. H. The B-17’s firepower, combined with that of other aircraft in the formation, would be plenty to protect bombers from enemy attacks. The bombers had as many as thirteen machine guns, depending on the specific variant, to ward off fighters, especially in the time before long-range escort fighters became the norm. The first operation against Schweinfurt was a costly one. A very versatile aircraft, the Lightning was also used for dive bombing, level bombing, ground strafing and photo reconnaissance missions. In all, we lost one-third of our force, and the German radio that night claimed they had shot down 132 B-17s. A strategic fighter is a fast, well-armed and long-range fighter aircraft, capable of fulfilling roles such as that of an escort fighter protecting bombers, a penetration fighter carrying out offensive sorties of its own far into enemy territory, and of maintaining standing combat air patrols at significant distance from its home base. Lets say for the sake of this scenario, the USAAF decides to give USN fighters a try for long range bomber escort missions over Western Europe. The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses. New posts Search forums. The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. With the B-17s in their “combat box” formation approaching Aachen, the USAAF’s P-47 fighters reached the limits of their range of operation. It formed the basis of the US Navy's carrier-based strike capability and proved instrumental in the destruction of the Japanese navy carriers. These Marine fighters and bombers operated under the local naval commander to protect the base from attacks and to detect Japanese naval activity. B-17 and B-24 bombers flying unescorted deep-penetration raids into Europe in 1943. Only when long range fighters (a. P-47, fighter and fighter-bomber used by the Allied air forces during World War II. It had. Now able to escort bombers all the way to the Berlin, the Allies launched Operation Argument, known as “Big Week,” in February 1944. S Air Force B-1B bombers took off from Guam and headed west over the Pacific Ocean to the hotly contested South China Sea. Within a few months and despite attrition, operational bombers in Eighth Air Force increased from 461 to 1,655 and the fighter force rose from 274 to 882. The PCA is intended to be a long-range escort fighter that can accompany forthcoming B-21 Raider stealth bombers into enemy airspace and protect them from enemy fighters. Their longer range made the P-38s the only fighters capable of staying with the bombers on the deep-penetration raids into Germany, and P-38s were the first Allied fighters over Berlin. Dorr - January 18, 2022. In this illustration, a group of escorts support an NGAD resembling the B-21 bomber. The latest long-range bomber drills saw Japanese and South Korean fighters scramble to intercept Tu-95MS and H-6K missile-carriers. The Republic P-47D was armed with eight . The result: the existing escorts had to turn back to England. Higher acceptance for risk during developement and use. 26, 2018. A fast and high-flying bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater of Operations and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II. 46 in) Hotchkiss cannon, intended to pick off enemy fighters before they closed to within range of their machine guns. The rest is history. The long-range P-51 Mustang fighter was. Supremacy in the air over Western Europe was won only after a long and bitter struggle but by the beginning of 1943 the initiative had, in large measure, passed to the Allied air forces based in Britain. The next-generation advance fighter (NGAD) will travel farther and escort the Raiders into Chinese airspace; these new fighters and bombers are the keys to American strategy. With the expanding production of British factories and the advent of more. The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) was an Allied offensive of strategic bombing during World War II in Europe. This increase in armament and armor presented the Germans with a dilemma once Americans began to employ long-range fighter escorts for the bombers. Its solution was to give highest priority to the expansion of the fighter force and the deployment of long-range escort fighters—in particular, the superb P-51B Mustang—to provide full-route protection to targets anywhere in Germany. Escort fighters changed the prosecution of the war by reducing the large numbers of bomber losses in the daylight strategic bombing campaign into Germany. In an August 1943 raid, 95 of 376 B-17s were shot down or damaged beyond repair. How. 4Once the fighters that accompanied the bombers at the beginning of their missions turned around to return to their bases in England, the bombers became Consolidated B–24 Liberators roar over the already damagedAmerican losses mounted as the bombers ranged far beyond their escorts of friendly fighters. An hour after dusk on Dec. While reading about bomber losses in the days before long range fighter escort, I began pondering how they could have been protected earlier. Many of these new fighters began arriving in Britain in Aug 1943, while fewer numbers went to Italy late that year. Even then I don't think it would have made a difference. This essay will determine the impact that long range fighter escorts had on the Allied daylight bombing raids on Germany. New fighter groups were organized in the United States and equipped with P-38s, then moved to England for escort duty with the Eighth Fighter Command. It rested on bomber escort fighters, but the targets were in most cases well out of range of Allied fighters. A strategic fighter is a fast, well-armed and long-range fighter aircraft, capable of fulfilling roles such as that of an escort fighter protecting bombers, a penetration fighter carrying out offensive sorties of its own far into enemy territory, and of maintaining standing combat air patrols at significant distance. The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place 4–7 June 1942, six months after the. 4 Modern era. 26 This meant that Luftwaffe aircraft had only to position themselves outside the P-47’s range and attack the bombers. Long-range escort model: P-47N-RA: 149: 5,934 canceled after VJ-Day: TECHNICAL NOTES (P-47D):. The key to a successful policy of daylight precision bombing was the introduction of long-range fighters that could escort B-17s and B-24s to those targets in Germany. The strategic fighter is a fast, heavily armed and long-range type, able to act as an escort fighter protecting bombers, to carry out offensive sorties of its own as a penetration fighter and maintain standing patrols at significant distance from its home base. The study examines how the doctrine was developed initially, how and why it was changed, and the success that was achieved before and after the change. The Me-210 was supposed to replace the earlier Me-110 as what the Luftwaffe called a “Zerstörer” (“destroyer”), meaning a twin-engine general-purpose aircraft intended as a long-range escort, fighter/bomber and reconnaissance plane. The Mustang was known for its long-range, as it had a longer range than many of its contemporaries and could escort bombers deep into enemy territory. The system was designed and flown in a matter of months and made such an impact that it could clearly be considered the war-winning design for the Allies. However, those bombers were not accompanied by. They would have had to have been flying by 1935/6 at the latest. 98's were employed as long range, convoy escort fighters to protect British shipping from German bombers and (in the reverse role) as an effective anti-shipping fighter-bomber. sixty bombers on each raid, because long-range fighter escorts were not yet available. Escort fighters changed the prosecution of the war by reducing the large numbers of bomber losses in the daylight strategic bombing campaign into Germany. 25 On the second raid on Schweinfurt P-47s were assigned escort duties, but range limitations caused them to leave the bombers before reaching their targets. It was lacking in range, speed, and payload, so the War Department put out a new specification for a four-engine bomber with increased performance to replace the B-17 until a true, long-range bomber could be developed. Differing significantly in design from short-range, high-performance defensive fighters like the Supermarine Spitfire, escort fighters were usually inferior in a dogfight. Prior to the introduction of the P-51, Allied fighters could only escort bombers so far because of limited range. D. But, like. A mad scramble resulted for an escort fighter that could stay with and protect the bombers. Prior to its arrival daylight bombing raids routinely sustained heavy losses as current Allied fighters, such as the Spitfire and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, lacked the range to provide an escort. 2 top speed, and “intercontinental” mission range. By the summer of 1945, four fighter groups were operating from three airfields on Iwo Jima: the 15th, 21st and 506th with P-51Ds. Fighter pilots would often escort the bombers and stay relatively close so as to defend them, but they could also range out and find the Luftwaffe before they had a chance to really engage the bombers. 1, 2007. Operation Frantic was a series of seven shuttle bombing operations during World War II conducted by American aircraft based in Great Britain and southern Italy, which landed at three Soviet airfields in Ukraine. (BuShips) began considering designs in the range of 35,000 to 50,000 tons. These fighters lured the Luftwaffe into dogfights, and by the spring of 1944 they were. The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110, is a twin-engined Zerstörer (destroyer, heavy fighter), fighter-bomber (Jagdbomber or Jabo), and night fighter (Nachtjäger) developed in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. These had. The US long-range escorts “got there first with the most. Pairing escort fights with CAS, cuts the long range legs off the escorts and is a waste. The P-47 originated with a June 1940 proposal by Republic designer Alexander Kartveli to base a. The white. Photo: MSgt. The XF-85 was intended to protect gigantic B-35 fly-wing and B-36 Peacemaker strategic bombers designed to fly thousands of miles carrying nuclear weapons in their capacious bomb bays. , a retired Boeing engineer and volunteer at ‘a local aviation museum. It evades radar with next-generation stealth capability. All of these bombers could make around 280 miles per hour, with the British bombers carrying heavier loads (in excess of 12,000) and the American bombers sacrificing bomb load for defensive. North American P-51 Mustang. The B-21 can drop B61-12 tactical nuclear bombs and launch the Long-Range Standoff Weapon cruise missile that is nuclear-tipped along with the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile. Two successful large-scale precision bombing raids were flown against aircraft factories in Tokyo and Nagoya on 7 April; the raid on Tokyo was the first to be escorted by Iwo Jima-based P-51 Mustang very-long-range fighters from the VII Fighter Command, and the Americans claimed to have shot down 101 Japanese aircraft for the loss of two P-51s. machine guns and eight 5-in. Engine: Allison J35 of 4,900 lbs. Long-range escort fighters were beginning to arrive in the United Kingdom as two P-38 groups, the 20th and 55th, joined VIII Fighter Command. A vulnerable B-17 was absolutely a priority for any German fighter pilot. [better source needed] At least 135 of these models were developed for naval use, [better source needed] including about 50 fighters [better source needed] and 38 bombers. The United States military said Monday it flew a pair of nuclear-capable B-52 long-distance bombers over the Middle East in a show of force, the latest such. The mission inflicted heavy damage on the Regensburg target but lost 60 bombers, or 16% of the force, with another 58–95 heavily damaged and a loss of 564. With a bomber’s range and a fighter’s performance, the. Long-range P-38 and P-51 fighters arrived in substantial numbers, and larger fuel tanks enabled all of the fighters, including the P-47s, to go as far as Berlin. The P-51s were perfect for guarding bombers on long-range missions into Axis-controlled territory. The first escort mission for the bombers was not flown until 5 December. By the end of the war, the role of the Gekko was reduced to bomb-laden suicide aircraft for kamikaze attacks against the Allies in the Pacific theater. The Luftwaffe now faced an air-to-air adversary that was far more formidable than a clunky, gun-equipped modified bomber. The B-17s Caught Hell. It can carry nuclear or precision guided conventional weapons with worldwide precision navigation. S. Variations in the Me 410 family included a variety of fighter-bomber / reconnaissance forms as well as several proposed and experimental derivatives. Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers of VS-8 from USS Hornet about to attack the burning Japanese cruiser Mikuma for the third time on 6 June 1942. Russian aircraft have conducted long-range flights that enter the ADIZ for decades, and American planes have routinely been sent to intercept them. Early escort included the RAF Spitfire and the USAAF P-47 Thunderbolt. Heavy losses convinced the Americans that they needed long-range escort fighters to protect their bombers. The primary NGAD aircraft may not look like a traditional fighter if the Air Force decides that long range and weapons capacity take precedence over maneuverability in future air combat, particularly for the Pacific theater. Similar to other long-range bombers, the B-17 was armed with plenty of small turrets to cover all angles from. Terry, 1988. Directly at the very core of the air force lies the idea of bomber aviation — the destruction from the air of enemy manpower and military. It had the range to escort bombers to their targets. The USAAF flew nearly 4,000 heavy bomber sorties (one sortie is one airplane flying one mission) and dropped more than 20 million pounds of bombs on industrial and military targets during Big Week. Its range is over 6,000 miles and can be supplemented by aerial refueling. The U. ”. The arrival of improved versions of the P-51 Mustang, equipped with drop tanks that gave them the range to escort bombers virtually. increased escort fighters for the bombers giving more protection. Developed for export to Britain, models modified by the British to use Rolls-Royce. The Bristol Beaufighter was one of the most significant British aircraft of the middle years of the Second World War. These fighters lured the Luftwaffe into dogfights, and by the spring of 1944 they were. On 17 August 1943, US Army Air Forces launched strategic bombing raids on the German cities of Schweinfurt and Regensburg with 376 B-17 bombers without long-range fighter escorts. This view persisted at. 9. The black line represented the course of the bombers, and the red line was the path of the escort fighters. Long range fighter would be able to provide defense for the Malta convoys, and put further pressure on Italian and LW assets once the invasion of Sicily and Italy is planed and beyond. However I recently saw "World War two in HD: the air war" and it did not say that. On 17 August 1943, 60 out of 376 American bombers were lost! Almost all the losses coming beyond the range of the bomber escort. In fall 1943, the 8th Air Force's heavy bombers conducted a series of deep-penetration raids into Germany, beyond the range of escort fighters. Early escort included the RAF Spitfire and the USAAF P-47 Thunderbolt. Unfortunately, it was not only the plane that was limited to 30,000 feet, but the crews as well. S. The first combat use of the B-17 came not with the USAAC (U. com Forums. Luftwaffe fighter opposition had been continuous on that raid. Possessing excellent range and maneuverability, the P-51 operated primarily as a long-range escort fighter and also as a ground attack fighter-bomber. But the development of air defense systems and the growing superiority of the jet interceptor over the bomber in combat made it clear after 1950 that the day of the bomber formation was drawing to a close. 1st Lt. The Mustang was designed in April. The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. Its primary armament was eight . And, unfortunately, when a manufacturer told them a new bomber wouldn't need a fighter escort, they bought it. External drop tanks turned the Thunderbolt from a short-range interceptor aircraft into a long-range escort and air superiority fighter, enabling it to accompany bombers from the British Isles into Germany and made it possible for heavy bomber formations to undertake daylight raids under escort by North American P-51 Mustangs. o. The bomber was designed mainly for long-range missions giving it a whopping payload capacity of 32 tons at a rage of 5,600 km. The type flew as a suicide aircraft, and finally, painted white with green crosses, carried surrender teams to various sites. Scope This paper focuses on the Army’s development of long–range escort fighters. Jerry Yellin, 78th Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group, poses in a P-51 Mustang. It was lacking in range, speed, and payload, so the War Department put out a new specification for a four-engine bomber with increased performance to replace the B-17 until a true, long-range bomber could be developed. 50 in (12. Skip to content. Outmanoeuvred by the British fighters during the Battle of Britain it was converted into a night fighter and proved to be one of the most successful put into service during World War Two. The mastery of these long-range escort missions is Initially intended as a very long-range (VLR) escort fighter, the F-82 was designed to escort Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers on missions exceeding 2,000 mi (3,200 km) from the Solomon Islands or Philippines to Tokyo, missions beyond the range of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and conventional P-51 Mustangs. In the short term, the Air Force would develop effective long-range piston engine P-47 and P-51 fighters with drop-tanks to accompany the bombers all the way to target. Plus, with long range bombers and fighters the air war can be extended to northern england and Scotland and harrass the RN at Scapa. The range – or rather the lack of it – of the Spitfire was still a major challenge, especially now that bomber escort duties were becoming an increasing part of Fighter Command's workload. The bombers and fighters together destroyed the Luftwaffe and air supremacy was gained over western Germany. Long-range bombers from Russia and China have conducted “joint. ) British bomber development, at least to my eyes (I don't have the benefit of air ministry memo's) seems to have been a sort of order everything on the menu.