"Eunometic" wrote in message
om...

Sure if they managed to bounce the Ju 87 however late war Ju87's had
half the attrition rate of FW190s possibly becuase the rear crew
member provided a very effective lookout and some return fire abillity


More likely becausethey couldnt be used in high threat
environments. The Luftwaffe was forced to withdraw them
from the BOB in 1940 as they were being slaughtered .

but I admit because they were possibly escorted at a cost in
resources. If employed effectively on the frontline instead of deep
penetration with 'top cover' to plug tank break throughs and or to
destroy fortifications during an advance it was a very effective
aircraft able to deliver a 1500kg bomb within meters of a target or
capable of penetrating 110mm to 140mm armour using 30mm or 37mm canon
that was far more accurate than rocket firing aircraft.


True on the eastern front where the Soviets were unable
to provide the sort of air umbrella that was available in the
West from 1943 onwards. In the west JU-87's were unable
to make any real contribution from 1943 onwards.

The need for the Ju87 was reduced because first of all the Luftwaffe
achieved a great improvement in accuracy in 1942 With the introduction
of the German gyroscopic reflector bombsight Lotfernrohr Lotfe 7 H,
which automatically calculated drift during high-altitude horizontal
bombing. Soviet bombers were outfitted with similar bombsights —
OPB-1M or OPB-2M for daylight bombing, and NKPB-3, NKPB-4, or NKPB-7
for nocturnal missions.


Trouble is the USAAF found with the Nordern in Europe you often
cant see the ground from high altitude let along targets on it.
Then there's the minor problem that vehicles and tanks can
move a long way while the bombs are in the air.

The Stuvi computing dive bombing site made accurate delivery in 22
degree dives possible with the aircraft descending from 8000ft to
5000ft at 400mph in a Ju88A thus a full 90 degree vertical screamer
such as the Ju87 was not so important anymore. (A late war Ju88S
could manage nearly 400mph in level flight)


Which was achieved by REMOVING much of its defensive
armament and the external bomb rack fittings.

The Ju 187/287 would have been defended by 2 x 13.1mm and highvelocity
1 x 15mm canon in a remote controlled barbette with a tailplane the
rotated out of the gunners field of fire and view so it would have had
a powerfull counterpunch.

http://www.luft46.com/junkers/ju187.html


It may have done a lot for the crews morale but it was
a pretty feeble armament compared with that carried
by any US medium or heavy bomber. It wouldnt have helped
much against a slashing high speed pass by a P-51 or
Spitfire IX.

Clearly it wasn't worth pursuing but the Stormovik/Stuka concept since
the allied air superiority was so great the concept lives on in
aircraft such as the Fairchild A10 Warthog.


But only where air superiority can be assured and even then
standoff weapons are increasingly required.

It seems to me that allied aircraft destroyed German logistics and
light armour with heavy machine guns and light cannon. The rockets
were inaccurate and often missed the tanks however a panther or tiger
tank runs out of fuel pretty quick and it was hardly necessary to
destroy them.

Indeed but those aircraft could defend themselves quite well
when it was required and were capable of 350 mph +
This is a quite different situation than that faced by a JU-87
pilot in 1944/5.

Keith