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There were some incidents doing WWII where both the British and soviet ran successful raids using low and slow flying biplanes that was simply too low and slow
by Stranger43 9y ago
There were some incidents doing WWII where both the British and soviet ran successful raids using low and slow flying biplanes that was simply too low and slow for the motors guiding the anti aircraft guns of the day.
Doing the Taranto raid the low altitude of the Swordfish bombers caused the Italian navy to not just miss the planes but inflict collateral damage on themselves.
Today it's much harder to pull a similar stunt mostly due to night vision goggles/binoculars. But especially the US have a vulnerability as they have replaced proven effective systems based around cheap ammo and smart people, with systems based on dumb computers and expensive missiles.
- digi_owl 9y agoThe same thing, combined with daredevil pilots (or in this instance, navigator), enabled the Bismarck sinking. Basically the Bismarck AA guns either had problem tracking them, or the ammo didn't do much. And the torpedo that hit the Bismarck rudder was fired in part by the plane's navigator hanging over the side of the aircraft, and telling the pilot when to release to avoid the waves.
- rjsw 9y agoThe Swordfish wasn't totally low-tech, they were equipped with radar which allowed them to find the Bismark at night and find their own carrier again afterwards.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]