Schnellbomber
Encyclopedia
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
. The concept developed in the 1930s when it was believed that a very fast bomber could simply outrun its enemies.
The first aircraft adopted for the Schnellbomber role was the Heinkel He 70
Heinkel He 70
The Heinkel He 70 was a German mail plane and fast passenger aircraft of the 1930s, that also saw use in auxiliary bomber and reconnaissance roles. It had a relatively brief commercial career before it was replaced by types which could carry more passengers...
, but it soon was replaced by the Dornier Do 17
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
in that role. In the 1937 air races in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
the Do 17 won a number of speed records, apparently demonstrating the value of the concept. However, experience of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
demonstrated that the Do 17's speed when loaded with military equipment was insufficient to escape interception, and armament had to be added to give it some defensive fighting capability.
While bomber development had temporarily outpaced fighter development in the 1930s, at the end of the decade fighters like the Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
and the Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
entered service that had the performance to catch up with the Schnellbomber, and dramatically outgunning it by eight to one (only one gun would normally be able to fire back). The Do 17 suffered at the hands of the RAF, and production ended in 1940.
The Germans nevertheless persisted in their attempts to create newer Schnellbombers, as opposed to large bombers with heavy defensive armaments which was favored by the RAF and USAAF. Other aircraft recognized as Schnellbombers by the Luftwaffe were: the Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
, the first to be custom-designed for the role, three years before the start of the war, the Messerschmitt Me 410
Messerschmitt Me 410
The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse was a German heavy fighter and Schnellbomber used by Luftwaffe during World War II. Though essentially a straightforward modification of the Me 210, it was designated the Me 410 to avoid association with its notoriously flawed predecessor.-Design and...
Hornisse, and the jet-engined Arado Ar 234
Arado Ar 234
The Arado Ar 234 was the world's first operational jet-powered bomber, built by the German Arado company in the closing stages of World War II. Produced in very limited numbers, it was used almost entirely in the reconnaissance role, but in its few uses as a bomber it proved to be nearly impossible...
Blitz (dubbed "the fastest bomber" – "Schnellstbomber"). Several other Luftwaffe aircraft were originally designed as fast bombers, but entered service in other roles; these include the Heinkel He 219
Heinkel He 219
The Heinkel He 219 Uhu was a night fighter that served with the German Luftwaffe in the later stages of World War II. A relatively sophisticated design, the He 219 possessed a variety of innovations, including an advanced VHF-band intercept radar...
and the Dornier Do 335
Dornier Do 335
The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil was a World War II heavy fighter built by the Dornier company. The two-seater trainer version was also called Ameisenbär . The Pfeils performance was much better than other twin-engine designs due to its unique "push-pull" layout and the much lower drag of the in-line...
. The Bomber B
Bomber B
Bomber B was a German military aircraft design competition dating to just before the start of World War II to develop a second-generation high-speed bomber that would both be a direct successor to the Schnellbomber design philosophy, and to replace all medium and heavy bombers then in service with...
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 unavailability of the needed high power output engines needed for such designs, no production aircraft were ever ordered under the Bomber B program.
Ironically the most successful Schnellbomber of the war was the bomber version of the de Havilland Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
. It retained a speed advantage over its enemies for much of the war, and was only able to be effectively countered by specialist versions of various night fighter designs. The Mosquito ended the war with the lowest loss rate among any aircraft in RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
. The Germans considered the Mosquito a superior implementation of their own Schnellbomber concept.
See also
- Bomber BBomber BBomber B was a German military aircraft design competition dating to just before the start of World War II to develop a second-generation high-speed bomber that would both be a direct successor to the Schnellbomber design philosophy, and to replace all medium and heavy bombers then in service with...
- 1939 design competition, meant to replace all bombers in Luftwaffe service - Fighter-bomberFighter-bomberA fighter-bomber is a fixed-wing aircraft with an intended primary role of light tactical bombing and also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. This term, although still used, has less significance since the introduction of rockets and guided missiles into aerial...
- Light bomberLight bomberA light bomber is a relatively small and fast class of military bomber aircraft which were primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance....