fastmongrel
1st Sergeant
Interesting page about air munitions in the Pacific. It covers US and Japanese AP bombs
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Interesting page about air munitions in the Pacific. It covers US and Japanese AP bombsI tried, I really did.
We're going to need to need to source or develop a 1,000 lb. APHE bomb.
Odd...we can send in bombers with escort and we can send in fighters in ground attack. We can even send in B-25s but we can't send in a B-32.But you do have P-51s available to suppress flak. A swarm of small, fast, agile fighters seems a better choice than big, lumbering, very heavy bombers. If guns aren't enough, load the fighters up with HVARs or fragmentation bombs.
Or, get drop tanks and/or auxiliary bomb bay tanks onto the B-25s to extend their range.
Is there something different about the B-32 that sets it aside from the B-17, B-24, B-25 and B-29 that I'm not aware of?
It's what you're positing it being used for. Something like bombardment or minelaying (something B-29s did to quite significant, albeit largely unheralded, result) would be perfectly reasonable. Strafing would not be, especially as carrier-based and land-based fighters and attack aircraft were quite capable of doing so, and both actually did attack land targets in Japan's home islands.Odd...we can send in bombers with escort and we can send in fighters in ground attack. We can even send in B-25s but we can't send in a B-32.
Is there something different about the B-32 that sets it aside from the B-17, B-24, B-25 and B-29 that I'm not aware of?
The B-25s flying out of the Aleutians were doing just that.But you do have P-51s available to suppress flak. A swarm of small, fast, agile fighters seems a better choice than big, lumbering, very heavy bombers. If guns aren't enough, load the fighters up with HVARs or fragmentation bombs.
Or, get drop tanks and/or auxiliary bomb bay tanks onto the B-25s to extend their range.
As the Allied fleet approached Okinawa, they came under savage air attack, both conventional and by Kamikaze, resulting in considerable damage and loss.
The Japanese air elements were not only coming from Okinawa, but bases on the southern home island of Kyushu 500 miles to the north.
For the invasion of the home islands, the Allied fleet would come under the gauntlet of the same, but intensified attacks.
So pre-invasion bombing/ground attack missions would be a must and it would be up to the long range air elements from Okinawa to lead the way and scour every square inch of soil, leaving no stone unturned.
Operation Downfall and all it involved would have made Operation Overlord look like a Sunday outing at the beach.
Again, the B-32 was one of the fastest bombers for it's size of that time.Agreed, I wasn't trying to say it'd be anything near a picnic. But I agree with33k in the air , that big, low, and slow would add to the casualty rolls without adding much combat capability. Wasn't this the same reasoning behind not using the A-26 much in ground support in ETO?
It was proposed to make the B-32 a gunship (strafer) like the A-20, B-25 and A-26s were.But at what altitudes? And is it maneuverable enough to line up an low-level attack run? Or are we talking medium-level bombing?
It was proposed to make the B-32 a gunship (strafer) like the A-20, B-25 and A-26s were.
And like the strafers, it would make a hot pass, hosing anything in it's path.
I'm simply playing Devil's advocate here, the idea of a monster gunship intrigues me and when I first heard the idea, it occurred to me that the B-32, of all the heavy bombers made, could actually pull it off.
Also, considering the B-25s and A-26s had over a dozen foreward-firing .50MGs (even a few cases of up to eighteen), I tried to imagine just how many .50s (or 20mm, like the P-61) could be applied. Especially since it would not be carrying bombs.
Agreed.Gosh, that just doesn't sound healthy to me.
Agreed.
In the forum's "B-25 weapons" thread, there's a few photos of a B-25 that had eight nose-mounted .50s, two cheek packs (one per side with two .50s) and the upper turret locked forward = 14 .50MGs and these strafers raped Japanese shipping and ground targets.
Just imagine what could be done with a much larger platform.
I'm sure that P-51s and P-47s would the workhorses of the show regardless of who was going in.That's right. I forgot the B-29's missions changed to low and fast at night.
If there were such a B-32 strafer mission, could a variety of fighters (sea and air) have been used for escort in relay? To minimize carriers exposure to land based air power?
Just how many wing mounted gun pods do you think that monster could carry?
Maybe equip it with a full strafing battery and pack one of the bomb bays with anti personnel bomblets for good measure when making passes behind the beach-heads and trenches?
The A-20, A-26, B-25 and P-61 all conducted ground attack in the ETO.
In the forum's "B-25 weapons" thread, there's a few photos of a B-25 that had eight nose-mounted .50s, two cheek packs (one per side with two .50s) and the upper turret locked forward = 14 .50MGs and these strafers raped Japanese shipping and ground targets.
Just imagine what could be done with a much larger platform.