Canberra B Mk 2 - War Thunder Wiki (2024)

This page is about the British jet bomber Canberra B Mk 2. For other versions, see Canberra (Family).

Description

In 1944, the Air Ministry issued a specification for a new high-speed, high-altitude bomber to replace the illustrious de Havilland Mosquito. While English Electric had been involved in aircraft construction since the interwar period, including producing airframes for the Handley Page Hampden and Halifax, they had little design experience of their own. However, this was solved by the joining of W.E.W. Petter, Westland's chief designer, who had left Westland to pursue his own twin-engine fighter-bomber design after being rejected. By 1949, the first prototypes had taken flight, and in 1950, following the outbreak of the Korean War, 410 aircraft were ordered for the RAF, as well as a number for export, notably the US (license-produced as the B-57A) and Australia. The first production run, designated Canberra B Mk 2, entered RAF service in 1951, replacing the Mosquito and Lincoln in frontline bombing and photoreconnaissance roles.

Introduced in Update 1.43, the Canberra B Mk 2 can be a very effective early jet bomber. It has a great climb rate and decent top speed which, coupled with its bomber spawn, allow it to either climb up away from the threat of interceptors or dive towards enemy bases. The Canberra is not equipped with any offensive or defensive armaments, so in both cases, survivability will rely on maintaining the speed to outrun any interceptors and using its surprising agility to avoid pot-shots. The payload is adequate, with six 1,000 lb bombs being enough to destroy a base.

General info

Flight performance

Details

Engine performance

Survivability and armour

• No armour plating
• No armour glazing
• Critical components located at the fuselage of the aircraft (fuel, pilot, controls)
• Engines in wings

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Suspended armament

The Canberra B Mk 2 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 9 x 500 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.II bombs (4,500 lb total)
• 6 x 1,000 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.13 bombs (6,000 lb total)
• 1 x 4,000 lb H.C. Mk.IV bomb + 2 x 1,000 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.13 bombs (6,000 lb total)

Usage in battles

Climbing high to around 10 kilometres will save you from most predators and AA fire in both AB and RB as the Canberra has one of the best climb rates and high-alt performances in the game. Watch out for the Me 163 and Ki-200, who can climb to you easily thanks to their Rocket Engines. A common strategy by Canberras (and B-57s, as they are the same airframe) is to head to one base, drop all payload on such base and then running for their lives. Using the 6 x 1,000 lb payload is recommended for usage on bases while 1 x 4,000 lb + 2 x 1,000 lb payload works best when used on airfields.

Alternatively, flying a 10-20 degree descent straight towards a bombing target can allow you to gain enough speed to reach the bases and bomb them before most aircraft have a chance to notice you and fire at you. Often this tactic will forfeit any chance of returning to base, as the Canberra is a large target and often the bulk of the enemy team will be a matter of kilometres away by the time you reach the base. However, it is a quick and easy way to ensure that you can destroy a base. 9x 500lb bombs is usually enough for a base, however the 6x 1,000lb payload or 1x 4,000lb + 2x 1,000lb payload will ensure that the base is destroyed, as base HP can vary depending on the BR.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good stock engine power
• Good stock acceleration speed
• Powerful airbrakes
• Good top speed for such a large aircraft
• Decent payload
• High service ceiling(max. altitude)
• Great climb rate
• Almost untouchable in Air SB (7.0 to 8.0), almost no plane can catch up with you

Cons:

• May rip wings by going straight for a while without intelligent use of air-brakes
• Likely to be a big target for fighter aircraft with an air-spawn and be engaged first.
• Slower than most fighters, which means you will be caught up by all jets that chase you
• An easy target for anything with guns that can go over 800 km/h
• First few fights will be running to a base, bombing the base and ending up dead by enemy jets.

History

The Canberra B Mk.2 was created in 1949 to replace the Mosquito fast bomber. It was designed to have outstanding high altitude performance and speed, being unparalleled for 10 years. Despite the RAF originally expecting the Canberra to be obsolete within a few years of entering service, so much so that work to develop a replacement (eventually leading to the TSR-2) was started before it had even entered service, it would go on to be one of the RAF's longest serving aircraft. The Canberra remained in front line service with the RAF until its retirement in 2006, some 55 years after it first entered service (although it spent a lot of that time in the photo-reconnaissance role, as opposed to its original purpose as a bomber). The Canberra was replaced in the strategic bomber role by the Valiant (and other V-bombers), and in the strike role by the Buccaneer (following the cancellation of the TSR-2 programme). It established a world's highest altitude record of 21,430 m in 1957 and was the first jet-powered aircraft to make a non-stop transatlantic flight.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Canberra B Mk 2 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• Canberra (Family)

External links

• [Devblog] Canberra Mk2
• [Wikipedia] English Electric Canberra