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(as just one example, the factory making the original version of the Yak-3 was destroyed delaying that project by a couple of years, which is a small but fairly substantial Axis Strategic victory I would say).
Not until 1944 which makes any talk of what the British or Americans should have done in 1942 rather pointless. Yes the Mosquito was amazing but lets remember that in 1941 they built 12 bombers, 9 fighters and a few recon planes, in 1942 they built 131 Mosquito bombers, 297 fighters and a few more recon planes. the Mosquito did not come into it's own until 1943.Mosquitoes could carry a fairly heavy bomb load out to a good range with an internal bomb load, up to 4,000 lbs 3,000 miles
Ju 88 could carry a 2000 lb bomb load internally roughly 1,000 miles, external stores limited the range more
The DB-7 / A-20 could carry a 1000 lb load internally about 900 miles
Not until 1944 which makes any talk of what the British or Americans should have done in 1942 rather pointless. Yes the Mosquito was amazing but lets remember that in 1941 they built 12 bombers, 9 fighters and a few recon planes, in 1942 they built 131 Mosquito bombers, 297 fighters and a few more recon planes. the Mosquito did not come into it's own until 1943.
when? A-2 was good for 620 miles at 217mph unless they put a fuel tank in the bomb bay. You want the 1000 mile range the interanl bomb laod was ten 50 kg bombs.
Sorry, it's just me nitpicking as usual.
This is probably about the factory 292 in Saratov which was destroyed in June 1943 during the operation Carmen II.
Since the first Yak-1M(future Yak-3) prototype rolled out in February 1943 and the factory managed to restore its pre-bombing output rate in October, we can assume that Yak-3 program was delayed by 4 months at least. There was also Tbilisi factory but I don't know if that one was involved in 1943.
Nevertheless, your example is very good and valid since those bombing raids in May-June 1943 have done considerable damage to the Soviet industry and logistics. Real strategic victory for Luftwaffe, indeed.
You need a Mosquito with modified bomb bay and two speed two stage engines, the 4,000 cookie was for blowing off rooves.I show the first bomber variant, the Mosquito Mk IV (operational late 1941) as having a 1,100 mile 'normal' range with a 4,000 lb bomb load and a maximum range of ~2,000 miles with an (unspecified) lighter load. And presumably at quite a nice clip in terms of cruise speed, as well as a good (pretty high) altitude. So assuming that is correct it exceeds both the 1,000 mile benchmark and 1,000 bomb load considerably.
Admittedly not in time for the BoB but that was not my limitation.
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If the 2,000 lb bomb load of a Mosquito was capable of serious damage, what were the B-17, B-24, Lancaster Halifax and Stirling all about?I don't think you need a 4,000 lb cookie (or two stage superchargers) for the Mosquito to be an effective bomber. Obviously aircraft got more formidable as the war went on, but a Mosquito IV or a Ju-88 A-5 were quite capable of doing serious damage to the enemy.
My understanding that the expanded bomb bay for the 'cookie' bomb was due to the size of the bomb, the earlier variants could already carry a substantial bomb load including (but not only) in their internal bomb bay.
I questioned that it would improve the prospects of the LW in 1940. A raid by He 111s and Ju88s on Manchester escorted by Bf110s isn't going to go well in daylight
There's more to strategic capability than just reach. You actually have to deliver effects once you get there. What bomb load could any of the bombers carry out to 1,000 miles? According to Wikipedia (yes, I know, but it's all I have to hand at the moment), the Do17 had a combat radius of 628 miles with 1,100 lb bomb load. Extending that range would require a reduction in bomb load...and 1,100 lbs is a very long way from being a strategic load. It certainly isn't going to deliver a strategic effect.
I show the first bomber variant, the Mosquito Mk IV (operational late 1941) as having a 1,100 mile 'normal' range with a 4,000 lb bomb load and a maximum range of ~2,000 miles with an (unspecified) lighter load. And presumably at quite a nice clip in terms of cruise speed, as well as a good (pretty high) altitude. So assuming that is correct it exceeds both the 1,000 mile benchmark and 1,000 bomb load considerably.
Admittedly not in time for the BoB but that was not my limitation.
I think you are muddying the waters a bit here. The A-5 was flying in 1938, came off the assembly line in June of 1940, and did fly in the Battle of Britain. The A-5 had the bigger wing and a longer range. My sources say 1,500 miles. Did they have enough of them for the BoB? Perhaps not. But that is besides the point. We are talking about design capabilities here, not the actual history of the war which are all pretty familiar with.
Maximum bomb load for the Ju 88 was actually over 6,000 lbs but more typically they carried about 3,300 lbs. And clearly A-5s were flying quite long missions routinely from the operational history in the MTO, for example Crete to Malta.
Longer range and Operational strikes tend to be a little less well defended and more vulnerable than either Tactical or major Strategic targets. A lot of time it's a matter of opportunity like spotting a train or a merchant ship heading to it's destination. For targets like these, or for airfields or radar stations etc., a few medium sized bombs can do real damage. Ports are often vulnerable too especially those not so close to the enemy.
The big dividing line in terms of long range for bombers is basically how big was the internal bomb bay. But already in 1940 we had several bomber types around the world which did have both long range and a reasonable internal bomb carrying capability. So in my opinion, the notion that there weren't any bombers which could do long range strikes is bollocks.
I sort of agree but most of all they needed a plan, that was planned a long time before the fall of France. Germany didn't have the stuff needed to either bomb the UK into submission or invade because as far as I can see they never thought about either until early 1940.Bf 110s can't provide the numbers needed, LW needs an 1-engined fighter powered by DB 601A, with ~500L + 300L (600l?) in drop tanks.
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But could the P-47 carry that load as far as a Mossie?Not sure why the Mosquito's max. load keeps getting compared to a B-17's. Two different types with two different mission profiles.
The B-17 typically carried 8,000 pounds of bombs on missions about 500 miles or less and carried 4,500 pounds of bombs on missions of 800 miles. It could also carry much more if the mission was short range.
Yes, the Mosquito could carry a 4,000 bomb, the B-17 could carry two.
The P-47 and Typhoon could carry over 2,000 pounds of bombs AND fight their way out of a bad situation - so it would seem that the P-47 is more value-packed and two Thunderbolts could do the job of one Mosquito then, right?
Also worth pointing out, despite that lower critical altitude A6M2's didn't have a tough time against Spit V's over Darwin. We know there were many extenuating circumstances, but I think it's a safe bet that an A6M2 was competitive with a Spit I.
Mosquitoes could carry a fairly heavy bomb load out to a good range with an internal bomb load, up to 4,000 lbs 3,000 miles
They frequently hit what they were supposed to that's why Germanys cities and industries were destroyed and they had no oil and precious few aircraft.Nobody should have been carrying incendiaries to bomb cities. The problem with all the heavy bombers is that they barely hit anything they were supposed to or anything of any military value. Mosquitoes as bombers had the extra advantage of being much more precise. I also think their overall loss rate in the war compares pretty well to a lot of other bomber types. Of course on extremely fraught precision missions like hitting gestapo headquarters or prisons losses are going to be a little higher.
True, but a round trip of 3,000 miles takes you to N Africa.Any Mosquito flying 3,000 miles would have a bomb bay full of auxiliary fuel tanks and 0 bombs.
The Spitfire I had one big advantage over the A6M2 in 1940.
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