Schnellbomber
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A Schnellbomber (German; literally "fast bomber") is a bomber that relies upon speed to avoid enemy fighters, rather than relying on defensive armament and armor.
Concept
The concept developed in the 1930s when it was believed that a very fast bomber could simply outrun its enemies. Omitting defensive armament allowed for significant reductions in drag (there would be no turrets, gondolas or gun barrels protruding from the fuselage) and weight (no guns, ammunition or manning crew members would be required on board) and resulted in improved performance.
Development
The first aircraft adopted for the Schnellbomber role was the single-engine
Bomber development temporarily outpaced fighter development in the 1930s. The last generation of biplane fighters (like the Gloster Gladiator and Polikarpov I-15) that had been placed in service during that decade could not catch the privately created Bristol Type 142 twin-engined light bomber prototype in 1935. However by the end of the 1930s, low-wing monoplane fighters like the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire had entered service, and they had the performance to catch up with the Schnellbomber, and dramatically outgun it by eight to one (only one gun would normally be able to fire back). The Do 17 suffered badly at the hands of the RAF during the Battle of Britain, and its production run ended in 1940.
Japan's air war in China
As World War II broke out in Asia with the
Germany's quest for "fast bombers"
The Germans nevertheless persisted in their attempts to create newer Schnellbombers, as opposed to large bombers with heavy defensive armaments which were favored by the RAF and USAAF. Other aircraft recognized as Schnellbombers by the Luftwaffe were the
Several other Luftwaffe aircraft were originally designed as fast bombers, but entered service in other roles; these include the Heinkel He 219 as a night fighter, and the Dornier Do 335 — meant to have a small, ventral weapons bay to accommodate droppable ordnance from the start — as a new Zerstörer heavy fighter, faster than any other piston-twin of World War II with a top speed of some 765 km/h (475 mph). The Bomber B high-speed medium bomber design competition for the Luftwaffe started in July 1939 was meant to create an updated design to take over the original Schnellbomber role by later in World War II, and function with a heavier bombload than the earlier Schnellbomber designs were capable of carrying, but due to the intractable development problems plaguing them, the continued unavailability of the needed pair of high power output engines of 1,500 kW (2,000 hp) and above each - primarily the complex, 24-cylinder multibank Junkers Jumo 222 - needed for such designs, no production aircraft were ever ordered under the Bomber B program.
de Havilland Mosquito
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The most successful Schnellbomber of the war was the bomber version of the British
See also
- Bomber B - 1939 design competition, meant to replace all bombers in Luftwaffe service
- Fighter-bomber
- Light bomber
References
- ^ Kuan, Yu-chien. "Shanghai 1937 – Where World War II Began". SHANGHAI 1937: WHERE WORLD WAR II BEGAN. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ Hui, Samuel. "Chinese Air Force vs. the Empire of Japan". www.warbirdforum.com. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
The schnellbomber technique was what the Japanese needed in the penetration of Chinese airspace with superior speed to avoid fighter interception and drop their bombs in safety.
- ^ Gustavsson, Hakan. "Chinese biplane fighter aces - Lee Kuei-Tan a.k.a. Li Guidan". surfcity.kund.dalnet.se. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ Gustavsson, Hakan. "Chinese biplane fighter aces - 'Buffalo' Wong Sun-Shui a.k.a. John Huang Xinrui". surfcity.kund.dalnet.se. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ Cheung, Raymond. "Aces of the Republic of China Air Force". United States. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
Japanese advances in high-octane engine technology and supercharging greatly increased the obsolescence of Chinese fighter aircraft burning low-octane fuel.
- ^ "Gassed up: The juice that fuelled victory in the Battle of Britain - The Secret 100-Octane Formula". Legion Magazine. 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ "United States enacted oil/steel embargo and freezes Japanese assets in 1941". HISTORY. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ "Junkers Ju 88 Schnellbomber". aviation-history.com. Retrieved 2017-03-11.