Bomber Facts for Kids

A bomber is a special kind of airplane. It's designed to attack things on the ground. Bombers do this mostly by dropping bombs. The very first bombers were built around the start of World War I.

Bombers often fly close to the ground. This helps them avoid being seen by enemy radar. Many bombers are not built to fly super fast. Because of this, they usually don't have weapons to fight other airplanes. In the past, bombers had many machine guns. These guns helped them defend themselves.

Bombers in World War II
Modern Bombers
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Bombers in World War II

During World War II, a type called Dive bombers was very common. They would fly down steeply to hit targets like tanks and ships.

Strategic bombing also became very important. This meant using bombers to attack important enemy factories or cities. Bombers in World War II needed large crews. Sometimes, as many as 12 people worked together in one bomber. A typical crew included a pilot and a bombadier. There was also a co-pilot who helped with navigation. Many crew members were machine gunners. Their job was to shoot at enemy fighter aircraft that tried to stop them. Often, friendly fighter planes would fly with the bombers. They helped protect the bombers from enemy attacks.

Modern Bombers

Today, bombers usually have only one or two people inside. Computers now do many of the jobs that used to require more crew members. Modern bombers have very few guns, or sometimes none at all. This is partly because they can fly much faster.

In bombing missions today, the pilot drops the bomb and leaves the area very quickly. During the Cold War, some bombers were built to fly supersonic. This means they could fly faster than the speed of sound. These super-fast bombers were designed to drop their cargo and escape quickly. However, they were never used for real missions in that way.