A rocket attack can have a larger warhead and is easier to hit a target if you fire 2-4-6-8 at a time...yes the aircraft is travelling...but it slows prior to firing...throttle down, air brakes..even drop your LG to create drag and slow the craft...additionally, as always, the pilot tries to line the target up, creating as little a defelection shot as possible...and even then its not easy...The Stuka could stay airborne doing very slow speeds, so was a steadier platform to line the target up with, get in closer...fire faster projectiles so the target has less time to move...it gets complicated!
Rocket attacks were quite successful hitting some moving targets during the war. It's just that the targets in question were ships and thus a bit bigger than a tank.
Before his death, Rudel was consulted by the engineering team that designed the A-10 Warthog. I really have my doubts about the recocheting 50 cals into the belly of a Tiger. Think about it.
Log In or Sign Up to View Hi Denny. Here is an attachment to an article directly related to ypur question. The scientist concerned was my grandfather. This paper will decribe in detail the shortcomings of early rpb's and what he did to counter these difficulties. Its on my FB page but it is set to public. Feel free to take a look. Regards Jonathan
The book I have shows the RAF 2 TAF having fired 222,515 rockets in combat. With the US Ninth AF firing 13,783 rockets.
Mr Williams on accuracy, from this thread: WW2F - Typhoon Dominance up to and after D-Day c.200 per hit. c.0.5%...
Stringbags & Rockets: FAIREY SWORDFISH'S NEW STING. JUNE 1944, ROYAL NAVAL AIR STATION, ST MERRYN, PADSTOW. THE FIRING OF ROCKET PROJECTILES FROM FAIREY SWORDFISH AIRCRAFT OF THE RAF. THE FAIREY SWORDFISH IS PRACTICE FIRING AT A ROCK TARGET.. © IWM (A 23783)IWM Non Commercial Licence ROCKET FIRING FAIREY SWORDFISH. 1 AUGUST 1944, ST MERRYN ROYAL NAVAL AIR STATION. PRACTICE WITH AN OPERATIONAL SQUADRON OF ROCKET PROJECTILE FAIREY SWORDFISH, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER P SNOW, RN.. © IWM (A 24980)IWM Non Commercial Licence ROCKET FIRING FAIREY SWORDFISH. 1 AUGUST 1944, ST MERRYN ROYAL NAVAL AIR STATION. PRACTICE WITH AN OPERATIONAL SQUADRON OF ROCKET PROJECTILE FAIREY SWORDFISH, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER P SNOW, RN.. © IWM (A 24985)IWM Non Commercial Licence ROCKET FIRING FAIREY SWORDFISH. 1 AUGUST 1944, ST MERRYN ROYAL NAVAL AIR STATION. PRACTICE WITH AN OPERATIONAL SQUADRON OF ROCKET PROJECTILE FAIREY SWORDFISH, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER P SNOW, RN.. © IWM (A 24981)IWM Non Commercial Licence ROCKET FIRING FAIREY SWORDFISH. 1 AUGUST 1944, ST MERRYN ROYAL NAVAL AIR STATION. PRACTICE WITH AN OPERATIONAL SQUADRON OF ROCKET PROJECTILE FAIREY SWORDFISH, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER P SNOW, RN.. © IWM (A 24979)IWM Non Commercial Licence ROCKET FIRING FAIREY SWORDFISH. 1 AUGUST 1944, ST MERRYN ROYAL NAVAL AIR STATION. PRACTICE WITH AN OPERATIONAL SQUADRON OF ROCKET PROJECTILE FAIREY SWORDFISH, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER P SNOW, RN.. © IWM (A 24978)IWM Non Commercial Licence THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. © IWM (A 24983)IWM Non Commercial Licence
Drop would be a problem in any dumb rocket launch, even from stationary helicopters. Thing is, when you attack a column of enemy tanks, you have a long axis to enfilade such a target so the vertical variable is more or less minimized. Now, if eric hartman can document his tank and aircraft kills on the ground, why can't typhoon pilots? Any numbers?
The quoted accuracy of 6" rockets from a Typhoon or P47 was around 3%. They were an area weapon comparable to a broadside from a 6" gun cruiser or medium artillery regiment. If a rocket hit a tank if could cause a lot of damage They had limited effectiveness against tanks. The OR teams estimated it would take 11 sorties to obtain a 50% chance of hitting a panther tank. Here is a PhD on close air support https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/2926860/338168.pdf
That seems rather murky. So you mean that they had a 3% chance of hitting a tank? or a given size target? I understand the P(H) was considered pretty good when used against ships although I'm not sure either of the two mentioned planes did any naval strikes. P(H) vs a train should also be fairly decent.
That was the short and simple answer based on the firing range experiment described in the PhD thesis in my link. It is also the figure quoted by some senior officers in the planning for D Say. There is a fuller study in ORS Joint Report No 3 based on studies of Typhoon use under field conditions in autumn 1944. The field hit probability for hitting a Panther tank was 0.5% needing 140 RP - 18 sorties for a 50% chance of a hit. The big effect of the Typhoon was on morale - depressing the enemies and raising that of friendly forces.
I believe it was against a stationary tank-sized target...Of course a ship is a somewhat larger target, and even B-25s(USN/USMC PBJ-1s) could get decent hit percentages against them.
My understanding was that fighter bombers in general also had a significant impact on soft skins as well as disrupting movement to the point that in many cases the Germans tried to make significant operational moves at night rather than during the day. Those impacts may well have been worth a lot more than killing a few tanks. as for: My point was stating it the way you did it was essentially meaningless. 3% accuracy without a target descriptor and conditions is simply meaningless.
