Is it realistic that bombs explode when shot?

Game Discussion General Discussion
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15

Despite books about air war in WW2 mention quite often direct hits by flak on B-17s/B-24s leading to an explosion of the bomb load, i am not aware of any pilot claims of explicitly shooting at the pay load.

Having the much closer combat ranges of irl in mind, going for the payload would have been suicide as the attacking fighter might have been caught by the explosion blast. German night fighters aimed for wing fuel tanks due to this whilst attacking with Schraege Musik. You will also might heard of the issues of RAF pilots avoiding to get killed/damaged whilst intercepting V-1s.

All i remember are very rare claims of 262 pilots scoring kills by hitting the bomb load - with 30mm and/or R4Ms but i looks like that those were just lucky hits and a result of their tactics of using high speed zoom climbs from below and behind.

To be complete, even it was not shooting at the payload:

We have the Knoke memoirs claiming that he scored 3 B-17 kills with a single SC 250 dropped with his 109 from 1.0000 meters above with a fuze delay.
He claims he scored a direct hit on the middle plane of these 3 B-17s, the explosion of the bomb load of the middle plane caused the 2 subsequent kills.

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16

You are fully right. IRL if fighters dropped 100 bomber, 1 of them destroyed by hits to bombs. In WT i dropped 6 bombers and 3 of them by hitting bombs. THIS IS STUPID.

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17

Not really a pro of physics but that sounds quite impossible.
wind is a light force but a constant one and applied to the entire body of the bomb so yes it will end up moving the bomb.
A bullet is a strong force yes, but unique and very localised.

It’s pretty much the same thing as trying to move a bomb on wheels by pushing it (less force but constant) or by punching it (more force but applied a single time).

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18

This whole thing with destroying external ordinance seems arcadey to me…

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Don’t all TV weapons target a dead space just above the ship too?

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Not only external, can’t even count how many times I’ve got my Lancaster mk3 obliterated by a single shot at the 12k bomb

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21

the Italian IDS is also missing the Kormoran still

22

I dont know what this has to do with bombs exploding on aircraft, but ok.

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23

Gaijin, please change this. The frequency of occurrence should be 1 in a 1000. Not every battle.

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24

No. It has never been confirmed to have ever happened in reality. Only a War Thunder thing.

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25

They are fine.

26

While it may be possible for this to happen, in WT it has been waaaaaaaaaaaay overdone and is quite literally gone way past the realm of ridiculous.
If they turned it down by 80% it would still be so far from a “realistic” number of occurrences . .
It’s just too much and nerfs the heck outta bombers which are already on the super weaksauce side of the spectrum as far as planes go anyway.

It’s just unfortunate it was even implemented and even more so at the rate they have it happening in game currently. (Props getting bent back like a banana peel every time you get within 30 - 40 meters of something is a close second tho . . . just give us actual collision mechanics . . you know, two planes collide in air and both fall to the ground 99% of the time . . . “realism”)

It will be nice someday when they address these types of issues, making the game more playable for all players, and not just catering to those that make the most noise . . . which seems fairly common these past few years.

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27

yes but not as easily as they are set off in warthunder

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28

Seems like a fun idea to try at home. I’ll quickly grab a FAB-5000 and an AK-47 to test it out.

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It’s not really realistic that bombs explode like they do in War Thunder from being shot

It’s even less realistic that you literally cannot destroy nukes currently. It used to be possible to destroy nukes before they would detonate, but I guess people finally whined enough for Gaijin to remove that mechanic.

Spoiler

People also seem to believe that a nuclear bombs would cause a nuclear explosion when damaged by being shot, which is just flat out false. Depending on the damage the bomb would either cause a much smaller explosion or not explode at all.

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30

Similar but related, ATGMs and rockets also shouldn’t immediately turn to dust if someone sprays a LMG at them. Too many times a slow MCLOS missile is destroyed by top mounted MGs or something. It’s very absurd that missile vehicles can basically be totally shut down by someone paying attention with more than two fast firing MGs.

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Bombs or missiles. You need to hit the detonator or set off the booster charge or nothing will happen.

It’s just another „big explosion = dopamin“ mechanic that Gaijin implemented.

It’s much more likely that a shot bomb will be a dud than explode.

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Hi, necroposting because this is a stupid issue and it’s entirely too easy to set off bombs from 15km with a 9mm SMG.

It is extremely theoretically possible but 99% of the time it will dud the bomb at best, not detonate it. It’s extremely handy for players with console auto-aim in the current state, among others.

33

One in a million shot at full speed, choppy seas and just as she was about to commit to the turn.

Shell penetrated below armor belt on red paint, snuck into the magazine and set a fire.

Nobody knew there was a fire until turret 3 flashed and the ship got ripped in half. The stars aligned for that shot.

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In coloured a B-24 Liberator begins the instantaneous process of disintegration as it splits in half and explodes during at attack near Hanau, Germany, on 12 Dec. 1944.

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" World Of Aviation

April 17 ·

It was hit from the inside… and then nearly destroyed by its own side.
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress known as “Snake Hips” suffered a flak explosion inside its bomb bay—then was struck again by bombs falling from its own formation during a 1944 mission.
Here’s the paradox: a bomber already torn open, leaking fuel, and barely controllable somehow stayed in the air—thanks in part to the very damage that should have destroyed it.
And against all logic, it made it home… leaving one chilling question—how much punishment can a machine (and its crew) survive before it simply shouldn’t?

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B-24H Liberator of the 783rd BS, 465th BG, US 15th AF, explodes in mid-air over Germany in 1944 after being hit by flak.

Douglas/Tulsa-built B-24H-15-DT Liberator 41-28853 of the 783rd Bomb Squadron, 465th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force, during the November 20th 1944 mission to Blechhammer, Germany.

41-28853 was the lead ship of the formation, with the 781st Bomb Squadron’s CO piloting and the Group navigator providing navigation.

The aircraft was caught by flak between the fuselage and no.2 engine, setting the fuel tank ablaze, while over the target. The fuel fire burnt through the main wing spar just as the crew started to bail out.

The co-pilot, Capt. Milton H. Duckworth; navigator, 1/Lt Joseph P. Kutger; bombardier, 1/Lt Robert M. Hockman; radar bombardier, 2/Lt Joseph S. Whalen; engineer/dorsal turret gunner, T/Sgt Lee R. Billings; and gunner Sgt James A. Bourne managed to bail out, and were taken prisoner.

The pilot, LtCol Clarence J. Lokker; bombardier, 1/Lt Grosvenor W. Rice; radio operator, S/Sgt Edmund J. Miosky; gunner, Sgt Jack Rabkin; and gunner, Sgt Paul H. Flynn, Jr., all perished in the aircraft.

It’s rather safe to assume it was most certainly possible. Considering some planes lost are attributed to flak, fuel tanks, sometimes falling bombs, or hitting other planes, one can safely assume the ones that disintegrate into nothing are from bombs detonating.