Dive Bomber

**Dive bomber** a bomber aircraft that dives directly towards its target in order to increase its accuracy for the bomb it drops.

## Overview

Before the advent of guided munitions, bombing was literally a 'hit-or-miss' affair. Unlike projectiles that had either stabilizers or rifling to improve accuracy as they flew toward the target, bombs were just dropped over the target and were subject to a variety of factors such as slipstream currents, gravity, trajectory and timing. Even with an expert bomber pilot and crew, bombs could still miss the target by wide margins.

Carpet bombing or saturation bombing was one method used to offset the inaccuracy of unguided bombs. Of course this was very wasteful as bombers used an excessive number of bombs to hit a specific target. Furthermore, this exposed bombers to anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighters as they needed to fly on a level flight path.

Dive bombing provided an alternate and even more dangerous solution. By diving at a steep angle, (45 degree, 60 degree or even near vertical), the bomber is able to achieve high speeds toward the target, giving the anti-aircraft batteries little time to react. When the bomber pilot is almost on top of the target, he releases the bomb and pulls out of the dive. As the bomb is falling at a more steep angle and greater speed, it is less subject to currents and has less distance to fall toward its target. This increases the probability of a hit, but it also increases the danger towards the aircraft and crew. In World War II, planes such as the Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) and the SBD Dauntless were created specifically for this dangerous role of dive bombing.

With the advent of new, automated bomb sights, guided munitions, and missile technology, dive bombing has become obsolete on Earth. However, in the New World, it has made an impact due to the arrival of the Gra Valkas Empire.

## Advantages and Disadvantages

### Advantages of Dive Bombing

* better accuracy than just dropping a bomb over a target in horizontal flight
* fear factor towards the enemy, the Stuka 87 was actually equipped with a dive-bombing siren to frighten ground troops and anti-aircraft gunners to duck for cover. The Japanese also used fear in their kamikaze attacks.
* uses only one bomb per dive bombing attack rather than hundreds or thousands in a carpet bomb situation.

### Disadvantages of Dive Bombing

* pilot and plane are subject to increased G-forces. The plane can be designed to withstand these forces but the pilot must bear them himself and runs the risk of blacking out during a dive.
* once committed to the dive, the pilot cannot take evasive maneuvers, thereby becoming vulnerable to anti-aircraft batteries.
* accuracy is still not 100% guaranteed
* planes designed as dive bombers are not as good as fighter planes

## Dive bombing in the New World

### Gra Valkas Empire

The Gra Valkas Army Air Corps does have a dedicated dive bomber called the Sirius Dive-Bomber. It was used extensively against ships during the Battle of the Folk Strait. However, it proved to be ineffective against the Shikishima-Class Patrol Vessel's anti-aircraft guns.

### Japan

Japan has not done any dive bombing since the end of the Second World War. In addition to dropping bombs, they had also used themselves as the weapon against enemy ships by deliberately crashing their planes into them. This was the *kamikaze* or suicide attacks. This was both a defeatist and desperate measure which wasted the lives of many potential pilots.

Dive bombing has become obsolete in Japan's mind as they have advanced targeting systems, guided munitions and the BVR capability of missiles. As a result, the attacking dive bomber will be shot down long before it could get close enough to begin its attack. Furthermore, with guided munitions such as the laser-guided types and GPS-guided (when Japan launches enough satellites), bombing accuracy has greatly increased with far less danger to the pilot.