Dual Purpose Bomber/transports

[SPINNERS]

Vickers proposed 'bomber' variants of their VC-10 carrying Skybolt and Wellesley-like bomb pods.

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Or the An-72/74 that were fitted with rocket pods under the wings.

But well, I heard recently that the Nimrod will soon be able to carry air-to-ground weapons (don't remember if it is just GBU or if Storm Shadows were concerned too).

In a certain way, the Comet of the late 1940's will become a modern bomber (among other purposes!) in the late 2000's!!
It was a long way !!

(French Atlantic II ASW planes will be able to launch AASM multipurpose air-to-ground missiles very soon, but I don't know if they already serve as transport plane?)

[Gervasius]

During Croatian war we used An-2s for dropping home-made bombs made of old boiler bodies, stuffed full of explosives, wrapped in ball-bearings and welded fins. They were also quite effective until Yugoslav Army deployed SA-6 battery.

So that is transport-bomber-agricultural plane.

Marko

[B777LR]

The soviets had DC-3, C-47s and the soviet copies fitted with bomb racks during the second world war

I beleive i read somewhere that the israeli air force had to deal with quite a few C-47 bombers during the first arab israeli war.

India has used Antonov freighters as makeshift bombers. They dropped loads of palletised bombs onto pakistani soldiers.

Some An-24s had bombracks fitted i beleive?

Soviet airliners had nose windows. Was this because they could be modified in case of war to bombers?

[AeroplaneDriver]

I guess we shouldn't forget the C-130 carrying the GBU-43 MOAB.

[Sentinel Chicken]

Or the An-72/74 that were fitted with rocket pods under the wings.

The An-72/74 also had provisions for bomb racks on the aft cargo compartment. If memory serves me right, they were shackles on the ceiling of the compartment and the bombs fell out the back as the ramp was opened and tucked under the fuselage to provide clearance.

[dy031101]

ROCAF was said to have converted several C-119s into bombers, rolling bombs out of the rear cargo ramps.

Was the Flying Boxcar large enough for BLU-82?

[jcf]

ROCAF was said to have converted several C-119s into bombers, rolling bombs out of the rear cargo ramps.

Who were they bombing?
They must have been flying with the rear clamshell doors removed to roll anything out the back.

Or were they dropping them from the para-tainer door?


Jon

[elmayerle]

ROCAF was said to have converted several C-119s into bombers, rolling bombs out of the rear cargo ramps.

Who were they bombing?
They must have been flying with the rear clamshell doors removed to roll anything out the back.

Or were they dropping them from the para-tainer door?

Wasn't there also a "beaver tail" version with a ramp?

[jcf]

Hi Evan,
yep, 68 were converted and designated as C-119J. Don't know that Taiwan received any of those.

Jon

[dy031101]

Who were they bombing?

Geographically-known targets.  Infiltrate behind enemy line while evading detection and then dump the bombs.

They must have been flying with the rear clamshell doors removed to roll anything out the back.

Probably.

Or were they dropping them from the para-tainer door?

According to the book that made the claim, no.

yep, 68 were converted and designated as C-119J. Don't know that Taiwan received any of those.

I think they got C-119G......



Hum...... that door for para-tainers...... doesn't seem large enough for BLU-82...... or is it?

C-119 dropping BLU-82 from the para-tainer door would have looked cool IMHO......

[jcf]

Who were they bombing?

Geographically-known targets.  Infiltrate behind enemy line while evading detection and then dump the bombs.

Where? What 'enemy lines'? The ROCAF didn't start receiving the surplussed C-119s until the late sixties.

Chinese CAT (Civil Air Transport), their CIA controlled and operated "civil airline", crews flew C-119s with French markings during 1953 and 1954, including dropping supplies during the siege of Dien Bien Phu. However, these were not ROCAF aircraft.

Evidently, the manually operated internal door into the drop chamber is only four-feet square.

Jon

[dy031101]

Where? What 'enemy lines'? The ROCAF didn't start receiving the surplussed C-119s until the late sixties.

"Behind enemy lines" meant any target deep within Mainland China because technically speaking, the declaration of war against the communist wasn't rescinded until 1991......

Evidently, the manually operated internal door into the drop chamber is only four-feet square.

Would enlarging the internal and external doors (so that BLU-82 could go through) be too much effort?

I have an awful sense of scale so bear it with me.