In the Pacific theater, the “Jungle Skippers” of the U.S. also sent the Skytrain into action as a makeshift bomber. The Soviets modified other Li-2s in the field, as was the case during the Soviet raid on the Finnish port of Oulu in March 1942. And if necessary, the crew could simply lob smaller bombs out of the plane’s freight door. The Soviet engineers tailored a version for bombing missions, with additional defensive guns in the nose and modifications for internal or external bombs. Moscow lacked a serious heavy bomber fleet, and used the Lisunov for offensive missions when required. supplied the Soviet air force with a license-built Skytrain, known as the Lisunov Li-2. The United States heavily used the plane in both the European and Pacific theaters. The American Douglas C-47 Skytrain rivaled the Ju 52 for the title of most versatile transport of the war. While their effect on the outcome of the conflict was negligible, the combat use of the aircraft prompted a major expansion of the Colombian air force. They did it by taking a pair of Junkers F13 float planes-borrowed from the civilian airliner SCADTA-and cut bomb holes in the floor. When Colombia and Peru went to war over disputed territory in the Amazon region in 1932, the Colombians hurriedly adapted civilian aircraft for bombing duties, and managed to hit back at the Peruvian invasion force. The Chilean bombers had little success in their raid on the fleet, but combined with an attack on the naval barracks by ground troops, the mutineers soon surrendered. The crews dropped bombs through a hole in the plane’s lavatory floor. In response to the mutiny, the Chilean air force gathered all available aircraft near the port of Coquimbo, where the naval fleet called home.Īlongside purpose-designed bombers, both light and heavy, the air force sent two Ford Tri-Motor transports adapted for bombing missions. In 1931, the Chilean navy rebelled against its government. But for those countries that lacked the resources or strategic forethought, there were other options. In the 1930s, aerial bombing was still a relatively new way of waging war, and few nations could afford to field fleets of transport-bombers … let alone proper bombers. After serving in the 1939 invasion of Poland in an offensive capacity, the Tante Ju spent the rest of the war as the Luftwaffe’s primary transport workhorse. During that conflict, the plane took part in the notorious bombing of Guernica.īy the outbreak of World War II, the Ju 52, like the Bombay, became obsolete in the dual-bombing role. The German Junker Ju 52 was another tri-motor transport with bombing capabilities.Īlthough Germany billed the Ju 52 as a civilian airliner to equip the emergent Deutsche Luft Hansa airline before World War II, it issued the plane simultaneously to the still-secret Luftwaffe, which used it as a bomber in the Spanish Civil War. It continued serving as a transport plane and in second-line roles. Before long, the Italians relieved the Pipistrello of most of its front-line combat duties. It served during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and the Spanish Civil War.īut by World War II, the increasing vulnerability of transport-bombers in general, and of the SM.81 in particular, became apparent. The Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 Pipistrello was the Italian air force’s first three-engine transport-bomber. But they soon gave way to dedicated bomber planes that were more survivable and generally better suited to the task. In the offensive role, the Bombay saw action during World War II, and served in the Middle East and North Africa. It was a twin-engine monoplane that could carry 24 troops or an equivalent load of cargo, or deliver up to 2,000 pounds of bombs from racks under the fuselage. The British Bristol Bombay was characteristic of these interwar transport-bombers. MC-130E from the 711th Special Operations Squadron drops the last operational BLU-82 bomb in Utah on July 15, 2008. Above-a Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 in action over Spain around 1936.
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