Toss bombing
From Freepedia
Toss bombing (sometimes known as loft bombing) is a method of bombing where the attacking aircraft pulls upwards and releases its bomb load, giving the bomb additional forward velocity. Although this might seem the direct opposite to dive bombing, where the plane pitches downwards to aim at its target, toss bombing is often performed with a short dive preceding the bomber raising its nose and releasing its bomb, since the dive can help give both the bomb and aircraft extra momentum and so helping the aircraft gain altitude post-release. Toss bombing is often performed at low altitudes, with the aircraft pulling up at the last moment, at an angle which helps the bomb cover some horizontal distance, in spite of the low altitude release. Release usually occurs between about 35 and 75 degrees above the horizontal, causing the bomb to literally be tossed forward, like an underarm throw of a ball.
Toss bombing is often used by pilots wishing to evade detection and/or who are dropping particularly powerful loads, such as nuclear weapons, upon their targets. In the former case, remaining at a low altitude for as long as possible allows the bomber to avoid radar and visual tracking, and in the latter case, gaining altitude post release can help the bomber to avoid the subsequent blast from the device.
Due to the intense pilot workload involved with flying and entering the window of opportunity, aircraft employed a "Toss Bomb Computer" that enabled the pilot to release the bomb at the most efficient angle. The Toss Bomb Computer took airspeed inputs from the aircraft's Pitot system, altitude inputs from the Static system, attitude inputs from the gyroscopic system, as well as inputs from weapons selectors signifying the type of bomb. While deployed in Europe with NATO, RCAF CF-104 fighter-bombers carried a Toss Bomb Computer until their nuclear role was eliminated by the Canadian government effective 1 January 1972.
A more dynamic variant of toss bombing, called over-the-shoulder bombing, is a particular kind of loft bombing where the bomb is released past the vertical so it is tossed back towards the target. This tactic was first made public in 1957 at Eglin AFB, when a B-47 entered its bombing run at low altitude, pulled up sharply into a half loop with a half roll on top, and released its bomb at a predetermined point in its climb. The bomb continued upward for some time, in a high arc, before falling on a target which was a considerable distance from its point of release. In the meantime, the maneuver had allowed the bomber to change direction and distance itself from the target.
External links
- Over-the-shoulder bombing - Diagram, provided by the US 510th Fighter Squadron, illustrating the technique.
