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How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 12:30 am
by lifeofbrian
The reason I ask is because I play War Thunder and nothing bugs me more that getting bombed in the middles of a good tank battle.

Re: How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 3:05 am
by Estnische
Planes were used as tank busters by the major players, as witnessed by the use of rockets and cannons. Generally, I would assume it was whether either had time enough to call up fighter support, but specifically after D-Day the Allied air forces hunted constantly and it was not safe for the Germans to move tanks during the day. Similarly the Battle of the Bulge ebbed and flowed during the bad weather until the skies cleared and the Allied air forces smashed 'em.

I could be wrong, I'm not that much of a history buff.

Re: How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 5:37 am
by jarndice
The Cannon Armed Hawker Hurricanes of the Desert Air Force gained a solid reputation among the front line troops in the North African Campaign,
They would come in at very low level and open up a PZ111 or 4 quicker than you could open a tin of beans, :thumbdown:
In Russia the Soviet Air Forces Sturmovik Attack aircraft which were often flown by a female crew (Pilot/Gunner) played hell with the German Armour.
And of course the Tempests and Typhoons of 2ATAF (Second Allied Tactical Air Force) working the "Cab Rank" system to clear the German Armour from the French fields and lanes claimed a famous name when Field Marshall Rommel was severely injured when his Staff car was hit by Machine gun and Rocket fire.
And often forgotten is Clair Chenault's gang of American freelancers with their Curtiss Warhawk's and Tomahawk's in China and Burma who would shoot up anything Japanese that moved,
So it is fair to say that Aircraft in all areas of the Second World War saw airborne intervention against Armour.
Shaun.

Re: How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 6:17 am
by Raminator
lifeofbrian wrote:The reason I ask is because I play War Thunder and nothing bugs me more that getting bombed in the middles of a good tank battle.
I am sure it bugged the tank crews of the Wehrmacht, Red Army, British Army, and US Army too. :haha:

The close air support concept really matured by the middle of the war, and air attack was just as much a part of the battlefield as other tanks, AT guns and infantry AT weapons. Consider that both the Germans and Soviets each had about one aeroplane for every two tanks at the beginning of the Battle of Kursk.

Re: How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:31 am
by HERMAN BIX
Just look at the slaughter/wonderful but inconclusive victory that was Falaise..................... :problem:

In my humble opinion, Air Power was a decisive strategic victory for the allies, but tactical air interdiction greatly assisted in local areas.
B17's & Lancasters reduced the number of tanks, troops, fuel and aircraft available to the front, the Typhoons, Thunderbolts, and Il'2's further reduced the ones that made it further forward.
German design, and infighting, non-standardised production and political meddling did the rest...............

Rudel and many similar others tell a fraction of what was done on both sides from air-to-ground at a tactical level, well worth the research.

Re: How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:15 am
by jarndice
The Battle of the Falaise Gap can be usefully compared with the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the Dunkirk area four years earlier,
The Germans saw Dunkirk as a rout of the BEF from France and while no one in the British High Command thought of it as a victory they were aware that the core of the British Army minus almost all of their heavy equipment was safe and back home to defend the Nation against an expected invasion,
The Allied view of the Falaise battle was success in so far as almost all the heavy equipment was captured or destroyed and many German Prisoners were taken,
The German High Command saw it as the escape of the bulk of its army that was able to fight in the defence of Germany against the imminent invasion of the Homeland,
There is surely no argument that the sealing of the Falaise Gap by the Allies was botched allowing many German Service personnel to escape to Germany who should never have got out just as the perceived cock up by the German High Command which allowed many Allied Soldiers to get out of Dunkirk and Back to the relative safety of the UK who should have been captured.
Shaun.

Re: How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:21 am
by Rad_Schuhart
At the beginning of the war the german used their Stuka planes as dive bombers for killing tanks and artillery with a lot of success.

At the last years of the war, with the luftwaffe almost gone, the allied warbirds were a pain for the tanks.

Entire companies of tanks were wiped out by planes that did not get not even a scratch. Most of the tanks did not have AA machine guns, and those who had it it seems it was not very effective. Looks like a MG34 is not the best way for killing a warbird... And also I guess it is not easy to hit a plane.

Re: How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:32 am
by silversurfer1947
The last operational variant of the Stuka was the JU87G, specifically designed as a tank buster with the addition of 2 30mm cannon. However, the production models were fitted with 37mm cannon in underwing pods, each loaded with 2 6 round magazines of armour piercing tungsten carbide cored ammunition.

Re: How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:09 am
by AlwynTurner
I believe the RAF did quite a lot of work in N Africa against Rommel, and used a Hurricane variant fitted with cannons and a bomb, they also used kittyhawks/tomahawks.

Alwyn

Re: How often were planes used in tank battles?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:34 am
by lifeofbrian
So I suppose we're just talking about open country tank battles, probably not much air to ground in inner city tank battles?