• Welcome to the new COTI server. We've moved the Citizens to a new server. Please let us know in the COTI Website issue forum if you find any problems.
  • We, the systems administration staff, apologize for this unexpected outage of the boards. We have resolved the root cause of the problem and there should be no further disruptions.

Rules Only: Any advice on Aircraft Combat Rules in Traveller?

Silliness aside I think you make a very valid point about aircraft performance. I'd never delved into the bomb load of the B17 B29 and Landcaster with a mind to a modern comparisson,

The B52, especially the next upgrade, is still a monster.
Even the B-45 Tornado puts WW 2 bombers to shame. The B-45 was the first serious jet bomber to go into service.

B-17 (1936 -) ~ 5,000 lbs. max for typical mission
B-29 (1943 -) ~ 12,000 lbs. max for typical mission
B-45 (1946 -) ~22,000 lbs. max for a typical mission

Basically, from the late 1930's bomb load for a typical "heavy" bomber was doubling every 5 years. Even if the bombs didn't change one bit, fewer and fewer bombers were needed to deliver a given payload and they were doing it flying faster and higher at the same time.
 
The B-36 Peacemaker, designed during World War 2, had a bombload of 72,000 pounds, carrying seventy-two 1,000 pound bombers, and could be modified to carry two 43,000 pound bombs. The combat radius was 3600 miles with a 10,000 pound nominal bomb load.

The B-45 had a much shorter range than the B-29, while the B-29 could carry 12,000 pounds of bombs with a combat radius of 1600 miles.

You might want to look here for the following title: Encyclopedia of U.S. Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems
Volume II: Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973

 
Back
Top