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Concept
Light bomber
Summary
A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance.
The earliest light bombers were intended to drop their bombs in level flight over a target. During World War I some air forces began to distinguish between light bombers and the earliest purpose-built attack aircraft which carried out ground attack, close air support, anti-shipping and similar missions. After World War I, attack aircraft were typically identifiable by their ability to carry multiple fixed machine guns, automatic cannons and rockets in addition to bombs. Light bombers have often served as attack aircraft and vice versa.
Purpose-built light bombers disappeared from military aviation by the end of World War II, as advancements in propulsion and aeronautical design enabled newer attack/strike aircraft, fighter-bombers, and multirole aircraft types to deliver equal or greater bomb loads while also having superior performance, range and defensive capabilities. Modern aircraft carrying out similar missions include light attack aircraft, strike fighters, and counter-insurgency aircraft.
The first aircraft purposely designed for bombing missions were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both built in 1913. The T.B.8 was a single engine biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was fitted with a prismatic bombsight in the front cockpit and a cylindrical bomb carrier in the lower forward fuselage capable of carrying 12 x 10 lb (12 x 4.5 kg) bombs, which could be dropped individually or all together. The T.B.8 was purchased for use both by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC).
The Eastbourne RNAS Squadron, operating the T.B.3, carried out the first bombing attack of World War I: on 25 November 1914, under the command of Charles Rumney Samson, the squadron attacked coastal gun batteries operated by German Empire forces, at Middelkerke, Belgium.
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