So it work like the API are better in performance, as currently the API with penetration over 25 mm is the only one that can deal damage. Currently 12.7 API-T has better performance than 20 mm HEI-T
Well, for Sb-2M the ammo count is not large, it says 3420 in its card. Especially considering its turrets’s ROF of 1800 per minute. Should be enough for 2 minutes of constant fire or 4 minutes of fire with cooling down.
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The large ammo count bombers may be limited? That’s why I said it may vary by plane.
The Pe-2 definitely reloads, multiple times (in a random battle), while in Sim they do not.
Just did a test flight with the limited ammo option turned on (and realistic mode) and the gunners continually reload (while the main guns and bombs do not). I assume this should be the same as a random battle.
(The pe-2 only has 200 or 230 ammo count for it’s two rear guns, so it doesn’t take long to get the “gunner reloading” message)
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And we can all test it and agree that it is true and SB-2M has ammo for 5 minutes of shooting and no more. And I agree with that as well, obviously.
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Is the Breda 50cals works fine?
For me, that’s the most important thing, since it determines whether I can send the interceptor back to the hangar.
Unless something has changed in the last 12 hours I have always had my gunners reload once they have spent their ammo in ARB and SIM and once they have run out of ammo they can’t reload anymore I don’t play arcade but everything can reload in that game mode IIRC.
My OG post was to clear up this false information that bombers have Unlimited ammo.
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I tried intercepting bombers with Pe-3, Yak-9K and I-225. It was cool, despite me being a notoriously bad player. With Pe-3 and I-225 I shoot down a couple of bombers, did not crash even a single time.
With Yak-9K, well, I hit some bombers but my aim is very bad, so, I was shot by them like two times.
For me it was more fun than before the update, even tho I have less efficiency now.
Penetration over 25 mm, so no as I remember correctly.
In the document the British state that, with self-sealing fuel tanks, the fragment penetrations on the fuel tank itself would likely seal back up. However it is important to note this was not a direct hit on the fuel tanks, it was a hit on the leading edge of the wing, which then blasted a hole through the front box structure of the spar, and created fragments that penetrated into the fuel tanks.
However as pointed out in the highlights, this is of little importance. The plane is effectively dead because the aerodynamics of the wings are too badly compromised (lethal aerodynamically).
When it comes to structural lethality, it seems the incendiary round was far superior. A hit to the fuel tanks almost certainly created a fire, and the incendiary round itself has a strong high explosive effect that could destroy the structure of the plane, however they have less aerodynamic damage.
For example, shooting at the center sections of the wings where fuel tanks and controls are located from behind. With HE projectiles the damage tends to be aerodynamic while with the incendiary ones it is structural.
Additional figures
If you look on the previously posted table, the figure number is the value to the very right.
Unfortunately the blog post I found these images on only contains the HE rounds.
The British tests also note that shooting 30mm mineshells at the fuselage can generally be survivable. This case is with a Stirling fuselage.
However in general hits to the wings tend to have a high probability of lethal damage even single digits of shots.
HE and HE/T are ineffective at causing lethal damage when fired at the fuselage of four-engine heavy bombers like the Stirling and Halifax , but can cause serious aerodynamic damage to the wings of Halifax and Lancaster bombers. Based on the firepower, a lethal hit from 2-3 HE (HE/T) rounds would be sufficient. Similarly, to cause lethal structural damage to the wings, approximately 3 incendiary rounds would be required (not including fuel tank fires).
TL;DR: fuselage tankiness is fine, but wings struggle to tolerate punishment.
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I am not sure if there is then an issue in the test flight map, because I tried testing shooting the 2x20mm on the Lincoln bomber with limited ammo enabled, with realistic difficulty.
The 2x 20mm have a fire rate of 750 rpm, with a total of 722 rounds between them, so 361 shots before the cannons have to reload. This means, you are able to continuously fire for nearly 30 seconds, before the cannons runs out of ammunition.
When i tried shooting that cannon, I were able to fire for the around 30 seconds before i had to reload. This matches with the calculation, that you should be able to fire for 30 seconds before running out.
However I were able to continuously reload the cannons, making it possible for me to shoot for over 2,5 minutes (all of the reloads enabled me to shoot for 30 seconds). So I had shot over 3600 rounds of ammunition through the cannons that only have 722 rounds total.
I have not tested in a real game, so I am not sure if it will behave differently there.
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I agree with you, thats why I tested it in Air Sim Battles.
Picked my beloved SB-2M with 3420 ammo shown in stat card and 1000 ammo in upper tail turret.
In 1 minute I had no more ammo in that turret. So it checks out, in Air SB ammo is indeed limited.
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What incendiary round HEI or API?
I guess when I went to Air Realistic Battles and was shooting and reloading for 25 minutes, it was just a swamp gas from a weather balloon that was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus.
Anyone can pick an SB-2M in simulator battles and in realistic battles and agree, that they both have limited ammo and do not reload in mid air for hours. Right?
Incendiary, actual “I”.
MK 108 did not have an AP-I round, and the HE is already HEI (the explosive filler used in these rounds has aluminium powder which enhances incendiary capabilities).
Edit: It’s the round you find in the default MK 108 belts in WarThunder.
It also looks to be that all defensive armaments works as if they had one long continuous belt.
The MG 15 defensive machinegun on the Ju 87 B-2, is a machinegun that has a fire rate of 1000rpm. It has a ammo capacity of 900 rounds, which means that it should be able to fire for 54 seconds total.
In real life it uses a double drum magazine with a capacity of 75 rounds. This means it should be able to fire for around 4,5 seconds before having to reload.
This reload would be relatively quick, since it is removing the drum from the top, and replacing it with an new drum, which is next to you.
Compared of having to feed multiple belts through belts chutes, like you would have to if you wanted to reload the rear turret of a Lancaster.
When testing it, I were able to fire for the 54 seconds before it had to reload. Which means that its ammo works as one large pool, instead of it having individual drums that needs to be changed for it to reload.
The drums of a MG 15 on a Ju 87 B-2, where they have been designed not to be fed from a large continuous belt located somewhere else in the aircraft is where it makes sense for the defensive armament to be able to reload, since the gunner physically had to reload the armament while in the air.
However the rear turret of a Lancaster bomber, were designed to have a large ammunition pool that made it so that they didn’t need to reload the defensive armament, and therefore didn’t have extra ammunition to reload those machine guns while in the air. Those types of turret doesn’t make sense for them to be able to reload.
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How does HE but not I?
In SB battles, I was flying with my SB-2M that has 1000 rounds on upper tail turret and 1800 rounds per minute rate of fire. I was firing with stops to cool down for less than 2 minutes, which checks out, so I used 1000 rounds on said turret.
There was no reload afterwards, so, in Simulator, there is a limited ammo.
Then when I went to RB battles, I was shooting with the same tail turret for 25 minutes with 16 reloads.
I guess, the ammo in RB is limited, but there is 20x more of it then than in SB? I still was not able to use it up, tho, the 25-minute battle times ran out.
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What do you mean?
How does HE shell not incendiary?
It does. I said so in my comment. The actual incendiary round is just better at it because it’s almost entirely incendiary filler.
Edit: Additionally, the HE round will explode shortly after contacting airplane skin, while as far as I know the fuse of the incendiary round triggers when hitting actual fuel.