A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughout the bomb run. This allows attacks on point targets and ships, which were difficult to attack with conventional level bombers, even en masse.
A Douglas SBD Dauntless drops its bomb. The dive brakes are extended and are visible behind the wings.
Final assembly view of SBD Dauntless dive bombers in 1943 at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in El Segundo, California. The dive brakes are visible behind the wings.
The Aichi D1A2, a carrier-borne dive bomber
Ju 87D Stukas over the Eastern Front, December 1943
A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes
air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. Bombs were first dropped from an aircraft during the Italo-Turkish War, with the first major deployments coming in the First World War and Second World War by all major airforces, damaging cities, towns, and rural areas. The first bomber planes in history were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both of 1913. Some bombers were decorated with nose art or victory markings.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 flying over Texas
A Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber
British Handley Page Type O, 1918
A USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber from World War II