NationStates Jolt Archive

I see lots of talk on these forums about fighters but nothing about bombers, so what is the best bomber of all time?

perhaps the B52 or the B2.

de Havilland Mosquito.

I kept it to Cold War and Modern Bombers.

Tossup between the Lancaster and the B-52. Lancaster could be argued at the most versatile bomber of the war, having many variants and spawning the classic Shackleton. The 52 has been around for ever and has so many uses. Thing just gets better with age. From carpet bombing in Vietnam to being the X15 mothership and such, it's truly a Jack of all trades.

I'd give an honourable mention to the Tu-95 "Bear", which is a maritime bomber. it hasn't seen proper combat but it's a formidable aircraft even if slightly outdated and outclassed by modern fighters. Nasty cruise missile platform and of course had the honour of dropping the worlds largest bomb.

http://kapsblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/bomberman1.gif

Tu-260, the more modern versions anyway.

I see lots of talk on these forums about fighters but nothing about bombers, so what is the best bomber of all time?

Well, as for sheer performances of bombers who have been in service (sorry, Valkyrie), the Tu-160 pwns a lot - it's even got a low RCS for a non-stealth.

As for reliability of the project, I'd say that it would be a tie between the B-52 and the Tu-95 (its counterpart). The Bear being more versatile (maritime patrol and AWACS versions, even a civilian version), and the B-52 carrying more payload iirc.

As for impact on warfare, I'd say the Ju-87 StuKa and the Il-2 S'turmovik.

As for impact on a single conflict, the B-17 Flying Fortress. It represented the peak of the "victory through air power" idea of the western Allies in the European theatre of WW2 (the B-24 was a flying coffin for its crew).

This was:
most effective bomber (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/harris_sir_arthur_bomber.shtml)
destroyed more than any other 'bomber'.

except maybe this 'bomber' (http://www.britishwrestling.cwc.net/roach1.jpg).

I'd have to say the B-52. It isn't the most capable by modern standards but because to formed the backbone of the US nuclear deterrent from the mid-'50s to the late '80s, dropped plenty of nuclear weapons in tests, served as a launch platform for test aircraft, brought the North Vietnamese to the Peace Talk tables in 1972 after Linebacker II, flew from Louisiana to Iraq to drop bombs in Gulf War I (a 33 hour mission), and serves as an effective cruise missile stand-off launch platform. Although I might be biased, my dad has over 2000 hours flying B-52s.

The Military Channel listed them as this:

1. Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
2. Northrop B-2 Spirit
3. Boeing B-29 Superfortress
4. Dehaviland Mosquito
5. Avro Lancaster
6. Boeing B-47 Stratojet
7. TU-95 Bear
8. Junkers JU-88
9. Handley Page 0/100
10. Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

B-52. It has excellent range, bomb capacity, altitude, and versatility.

The B-17 deserves honorable mention.

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
Boeing B-2
F-117 Nighthawk

F-117 Nighthawk

the F-117 isn't a bomber,it's an attacker

FB-111 Aardvark. Mach 2 on the deck, reasonably heavy payload of conventional or nuclear arms, operable from short runways and full capsule ejection for pilot and navigator. At the height of it's use there was no weapon in either the eastern or western inventory that could reliably stop this plane, and precious few now.

Bomberman!:D

Patrick Magee

Ackmed the dead terorist.

The B52 has been, until recently, the workhorse of bombers. It was first built in the late '40s and some are still in service today. It's perfection of it's kind, the only way to improve it will be a complete change in design and I don't think that's been achieved yet.

I'm also partial to the B17 - it looks like death with wings.

the F-117 isn't a bomber,it's an attacker

the F-117 is an attack bomber...

It is a tactical weapon, not stegic, but it is still a bomber.

The Chicxulub asteroid.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg6vhg2dFN0

I said the B-2 cause it has a cool shape.

F-105 Thunderchief.

How many other planes have a hill named after it?

I see lots of talk on these forums about fighters but nothing about bombers, so what is the best bomber of all time?

If they could have gotten the bugs worked out of this aircraft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XB-70_Valkyrie), it might have made the list.

If they could have gotten the bugs worked out of this aircraft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XB-70_Valkyrie), it might have made the list.

What would have been more epic, is the B-12. That was a proposed plane to built from the A-12, the SR-71 predecessor. That plane was canceled because of politics and because it was competing with the XB-70, an air force program, and the A-12 was a CIA program.

I'd go with the Douglas Dauntless.

I'd go with the Douglas Dauntless.

For Dive bombers, I prefer the Stuka. But For American dive bombers, the Hell Diver is the best.

B 52, no questions.

No other bomber can touch it's 60 odd years of useful service life.

B 52, no questions.

No other bomber can touch it's 60 odd years of useful service life.
it is hard to argue with that long a record... in service for more than half the time from the wright brothers to the present.

it is hard to argue with that long a record... in service for more than half the time from the wright brothers to the present.

Especially when it still does such a good job, and very cheaply compared to more modern aircraft. (And sorry, it's 53 years, not 60. My bad. But it still spans over half the time, from the Wright bros 1903 flight til now.)

The French Bloch MB210 was probably the uglies plane ever built, so starting with that as the low point...

Best bomber of all time? Probably Carrot Top.

Best bomber of all time? Probably Carrot Top.

/thread

B2 most likely to get to target and survive, even in the most advanced anti air.
also if the original 120 had been ordered it could have been a real balance of power shift during the cold war.

I have to go with the B-52 as the best bomber of the post World War II era. It has been in service since 1955 and used in all major conflicts the United States has been in. The US Air Force plans on operating the B-52 till 2040. A close second is the Tu-95 because it was introduced a year latter and is still in service.

I voted for B-52 because of it's massive ordinance, range and it's life span says that it is a really good frame. For what you pay, you get a very good product. And you can buy almost ten of them for a B-2 ( at the 500 million price for buying 120 ).
It is a durable frame, easily upgraded.
They have seen more use than any other bomber since The Great Patriotic War ( WWII ).
They have shown to be a tremendous asset.
Even though we've lost a lot of them ( Vietnam ).

After B-52 I would choose,
B-1 lancer because it was designed as a supersonic replacement to B-52 and before
the B-2 program got off the ground.

B-2 Is definitely among the best bombers ever, Unfortunately we haven't seen enough of it's combat record to know just how awesome it is. Also it's limitations of Night time only
flight and it seems a lack of countermeasures ( as far as we know ) seem to be a serious disadvantage.

If they could have gotten the bugs worked out of this aircraft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XB-70_Valkyrie), it might have made the list.

Unfortunately they did not.
I think that with modern Avionics it would have been great!
Fly by wire and all that, could have helped as well as really precise radar.

the F-117 is an attack bomber...

It is a tactical weapon, not stegic, but it is still a bomber.

I don't know if anyone read I think it was June or July of Air and Space?
they did a pretty comprehensive article on the F-117 night hawk, and everyone
in the Airforce who was in that article said it was a ugly beast.
That it was maintained much more often than any other plane in the US military, the parts were crazy hard to change. You basically had to disassemble the plane to work on anything. It lacked an on board Radar, and was assembled from parts of three or four other planes.
Each stealth tile had to be cut just to the space on the plane, there was no
blue print for the radar absorbing skin...
Oh and it only carried two weapons, the pilot had to wear night vision to see his target.
It was five pages of complaints from the Air force,
That's why they are killing all the frames in the desert. No one in the Air Force
wants to see it ever again.

Yeah, as revolutionary as it was, the F-117 is considered a bitch of a plane. Shame really :(

Osama Bin Laden; I think he deserves the title of best modern bomber.

Oh you mean aircraft?

http://de.fifa.com/mm/photo/classic/players/mueller%5ffifa%5f407%5f1584%5fsq%5flarge.jpg
Gert Müller.
aka "Der Bomber der Nation"