- Light bomber
Light bomber is a relatively small and fast class of
military bomber aircraft which was employed mainly before the 1950s. Suchaircraft would probably not carry more than oneton of ordnance.Light bombers of
World War I were single-engine aircraft with a bomb load about 50-400 kg. They could often also serve asreconnaissance aircraft . egAvro 504 Prior to WWII, engine power was so scarce that there were several types of bombers, light, medium and heavy, all tuned to a particular performance niche. As fighters grew to be able to carry the same sorts of loads at even greater speeds, light bombers were replaced around the 1950s and the term fell from use.
Light bombers of
World War II were single-engine or, less commonly, twin-engine aircraft with a bomb load of about 500-1,000 kg. Designs that could be described as light bombers included theFairey Battle .Some of them were
dive bomber s. Light bombers were also the only type of bombers operating fromaircraft carrier s. Some twin-engine light bomber designs were also successful when converted intoheavy fighter s ornightfighter s. egBristol Blenheim .The light bomber was tasked with missions similar to that of modern
attack aircraft andfighter-bomber s.ee also
*
medium bomber
*heavy bomber
*tactical bombing
*strategic bombing
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