English Electric Canberra B.2

Stuhlfleisch · July 18, 2023, 9:10am

Should the Canberra B.2 be added to Germany?

Yes!
No!

0 voters

Summary:

The West German Canberras’ origin history is strikingly similar to that of the IL-28’s of the East German LSK, the standard bomber production version (“IL-28” and “Canberra B.2”), modified to become a target-tug for training ground-based AA-crews, which is why I am suggesting this plane in the first place, since the German IL-28 is already ingame, signaling that this type of vehicle would hold enough ground to varrant the bomber version it was based on to be added ingame, since in both instances the plane was the actual bomber variant, just modified for target tugging.

History:

In 1964, the Luftwaffe bought three Canberra B.2 tactical bombers from the RAF. The planes were to be used as target-tugs for anti-aircraft training. The delivery concluded in 1966, which was the same year the planes entered service with the Luftwaffe and performed the target tugging role for two years, until 1968.

By 1968, the Canberras lost their original purpose of serving as target-tugs and instead were being used as experimental technology carriers by the Erprobungsstelle 61 in Manching, this came along with a new coat of paint, the three Canberras received a bright orange livery.

Before 1968 the planes were characterised by unpainted aluminium with German airforce roundels, a German flag on the rudder and identification numbers, otherwise retaining all the original exterior inscriptions from their previous service in the RAF. The new 1968 livery changed the base-colour from silver to orange, and changed many exterior inscriptions from English to German.

The planes served until the early to mid 1990’s in various roles, as spy- and reconnaissance planes, for geographic mapping, as experimental technology carriers, allegedly for guided weapon testing, and weather surveillance. All three planes survive to this day and are on display in three German museums:

“Internationales Luftfahrt-Museum, Villingen-Schwenningen”
“Militärhistorisches Museum Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow”
“Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim”

Additionally, the West German navy actually had British bombs in their inventory, which were reserved for the Sea Hawk and Fairey Gannet, meaning technically, the Canberras “could” have been armed, if that would have been necessary for whatever reason, at least during the first two years of service, when the Canberras were used as target-tugs, since after 1968 cameras and other equipment was installed in the bomb-bay.

Implementation:

I would like to suggest the pre-1968 version of these three unique planes, with the unpainted aluminium look and of course their bombing capability intact. The three planes were designated “YA+151”, “YA+152” and “YA+153”, and re-designated later to “00+01” “00+02” and “00+03”.

In 1968 the three planes were painted orange and received, yet again, new identification-codes.

Ingame the German Canberra B.2 would be a carbon copy of the British one, I would also suggest the same exact bomb loadouts for it, in the same way how the IL-28 for East Germany was implemented, being the same model with the same bombs as the Soviet one, but with East German camos and German crew voices.

The bright orange camo which came in 1968, and even the partial RAF camo on the wings on one of them, which was the result of replacing the wings, which were destroyed during a fire, with the ones of a cannibalised ex-RAF Canberra, could be unlockable camos for a certain amount of bomb-tonnage dropped on targets or GE.

I strongly belive that the German Canberra should be situated in the tech-tree, coming after having unlocked the IL-28, giving Germany a nice jet-bomber at 8.3, which ties in nicely with the IL-28 sitting at 8.0, which would come before. It would be one of the highest BR jet-bombers Germany could currently receive with the rules set in place by Gaijin.

I suggest the unpainted livery from 1966 to 1968 as the standard skin when you first unlock the plane, with the orange liveries potentially being unlockable or purchasable:

Pictures

More pictures (post 1968)

How it could look ingame with the post 1968 livery
(skin by @Robball14 from: WT Live // Camouflage by Robball14):

War Thunder live camo

Specifications:

Crew: 3 (pilot, navigator, bombardier)
Length: 19,96m

Height: 5,23m

Empty Weight: 10.300kg

Maximum Takeoff Weight: 20.856kg

Wingspan: 19,49m

Max Speed: 880 km/h at 3.000m altitude, 930 km/h at 12.192m altitude

Cruise Speed: 650 km/h

Ferry Range: 5.440km

Combat Radius: 1.300km

Service Ceiling: 12.192m

Armament: Up to 6.000lb (2.722kg) of bombs carried in internal bomb-bay, no guns

Conclusion:

I think this could be a great plane for Germany’s end of the bomber branch, being 8.3 would make it a natural successor to the IL-28 which sits at 8.0, making for a perfect tech-tree vehicle with an interestingly similar history to the plane it would come after.

Besides the Canberra B.2 and IL-28, Germany had no other jet bombers in operation, that came reasonably close in terms of speed and bomb-load to be put at a BR of 8.0 or higher. The only other “top-tier” bombers that could at least be considered would be the partially built Ju 187 V2/V3, and a series of three jet-bomber prototypes designed and built for the USSR by German engineers during the immediate post-war era (OKB-1 131, OKB-1 140, and OKB-1 150), which is why I wanted to suggest the West German Canberra B.2, since it was procured, operated and flown by the West German Luftwaffe.

The Canberra B.2 would give the German airforce tech-tree a well-rounded jet-bomber, which would also help with the gap between the 8.0 IL-28 and the 9.7 MiG-23BN.

Thanks for reading, if you found any mistakes or want to add something, feel free to comment! :salute: