Questions tagged [strategic-bomber]
A strategic bomber is a medium to long range heavy bomber designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war
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Isn't a "land based navy bomber" just an air force bomber?
This wonderful article on the Mitsubishi G4M Betty has the following quote about the Mitsubishi G3M Nell:
the G3M was already considered the best land-based navy bomber in the
world
What in the ...
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What are the terrain-following radar modes of the B1-B?
The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic-capable variable-sweep wing large bomber operated by the US Air Force. One of its "key features" is terrain-following radar and a fast, heavily-...
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Why do the B-2 Spirit's split elevons seem almost always deployed?
Looking at images and videos displaying B-2 spirit, it seems like split elevons are most of the time deployed, even at high speed. Why is it so?
Having some aerodynamic surface deployed generates drag ...
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Did the jet stream really stop the B-29, or was it just bad luck?
The B-29 bomber, used in WWII, was designed as a high altitude bomber, capable of operating from altitudes in excess of 30,000 feet. However, starting with their first missions to Tokyo in Nov 1944, ...
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Why does the B-2 Spirit have a pattern of thin white lines?
Northrop Grumman's B-2 Spirit strategic bomber is mostly black or dark grey, but has a symmetric pattern of distinctive, thin white lines painted on its wings and fuselage. I have not been able to ...
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Was a strategic bomber raid ever completely wiped out?
It seems that all raids I have heard of were heavily punished but with at least half surviving. I cannot find any raid where all bombers were wiped out.
user42795
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What are these engineers doing sitting on a large format drawing of B-47s aircraft?
This answer about solid-jet-assisted takeoff links to the page B-47 Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO). An image there took me to a collection of historical aviation images, apparently from a LIFE Magazine ...
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What is the meaning of nose-art on the Tu-160 bomber?
The BBC reports another Tu-160 interception on 15 Jan 2018 and it's clear that there is a large message painted on the side of the bomber.
Looking at the Wikipedia page, it seems this style of nose-...
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Why does the B-2 have a smaller payload than other bombers of comparable size?
B-2 Spirit1
Payload
40,000 pounds (18,144 kilograms)
Wingspan
172 feet (52.12 meters)
Weight
160,000 pounds (72,575 kilograms)
Maximum takeoff weight
336,500 pounds (152,634 kilograms)
Range
...
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What causes this surface texture, and how does it affect flight characteristics?
The picture on this answer to "What is this plane seen in Mobile, Alabama?" shows a B-52D Stratofortress with a very irregular surface texture.
(Source)
Were they like this when they were new, or is ...
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What were the typical dimensions of a WW2 US bomber formation?
The idea behind daylight raids was that bombers were more accurate when they could actually see targets so the damage inflicted would be concentrated more so that a night time carpet bombing.*
All of ...
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What are the 2 protrusions next to the fore ground lights on the Tu-22M3?
Here's a reference image :
What are those 2 spokes coming out next to the ground lights ?
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When did the Tu95 first use its armament in combat?
When did the Tu95 first use its armament in combat? I know they can carry both missiles and bombs, I'm looking for the earliest date of either one being used in a combat situation.
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Is there really a safe for storing secret orders on board a B-52 bomber? [closed]
In the movie Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, a safe appears at 4:05 (you can see the sequence here).
Is there really a safe on the B-52? If so, is it normal that ...
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Why did Britain develop three different bombers (V-bombers) after WW2 instead of one?
Why did Great Britain develop three different planes - Victor, Valiant and Vulcan - after WW2 for the same task?
I suppose that at that time the US and the Soviet Union were producing high numbers ...
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What are some disadvantages that come with a design like a B-2 spirit bomber?
Here is a B-2 Spirit:
source
Source
Many different things can get in the way with a design like a B-2. Although it has really good stealth and looks, does it have any disadvantages that come with ...
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Are nuclear bombers themselves damaged after dropping bombs?
Shock waves resulting from low intensity explosions can easily reach 10,000m/s. About 5% of the energy released in a nuclear air burst is in the form of ionizing radiation: neutrons, gamma rays, ...
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Are strategic bombers still useful, or are fighters taking over this role?
During the mid 20th century and cold war, armies were having clear distinction between those aircraft designed as strategic bombers and those designed to be fighters for aerial combat. My ...
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Can someone identify this warplane silhouette?
I saw this picture today in a news article about the current conflict in Iraq/Syria.
The caption claims it is a US warplane, but I don't recognise the silhouette. Can someone identify this plane?
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Why do air forces still use bombers?
Something I have wondered about recently, since the advent of ICBMs what is the point of long range bombers like the B-2? I understand they have longer range and can carry more payload but wouldn't ...
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Why/How is the B-52 still in service?
The B-52 was introduced in 1955, and is still used by the US Airforce, and is expected to remain in use till the 2040s.
On the other hand, the A-4 Skyhawk was introduced in 1956 and retired in 1998/...
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