B-10B

B-10B

B-10B

USA

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.3	1.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Bomber

Frontline bomber

Purchase:400

Description

The B-10B is a premium Rank I American bomber with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/RB) and 1.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.67 "Assault".

General info

Flight Performance

The B-10B might come across as fairly mediocre, it accelerates fairly slowly, doesn't have WEP in RB and SB modes, and cruses at altitude at around 280 Km/h, which is faster than several contemporary bombers, but isn't overly impressive. However, it is incredibly manoeuvrable for a bomber, it can out turn most Axis monoplane fighters excluding the Japanese, and can safely deploy flaps for most defensive manoeuvres, it turns very well horizontally but not so much vertically. It of course can't out turn biplanes, but can outrun most of them in a shallow dive.

It's primary bomb loads, the 2000lb bomb and the two 1000lb bombs do create a fair amount of drag as they're carried externally, however the B-10 is fast enough to reach bombing points before having to engage with enemy fighters, so the extra drag generally doesn't come into effect. 

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 2,438 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
331	319	7380	21.8	22.7	6.3	6.2	600
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 2,438 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
355	343	7380	20.2	21.0	9.3	7.7	600

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
564	235	340	~??	~?

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 200	< 270	< 290	> 307

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
2,200 m	760 hp	No WEP

Survivability and armour

The B-10B lacks any armour protection, but it is surprisingly survivable, not only because it most often fights aircraft only armed with Machine guns, but because most of the wing area is empty of any fuel tanks. The fuel tanks are located between the engines and the fuselage which is an area rarely hit. The B-10 also can run on one engine but only if other areas aren't too heavily damaged, being a generally large and slow aircraft it suffers from drag caused by structural damage substantially, meaning it can destabilise and fall out of the sky if an engine is damaged as well. 

The tail is the most vulnerable area, there's a lot of control surfaces present in the rear of the aircraft, and the elevators are very large targets, even machine guns will shred through these areas if given only a short time on target,.

The crew additionally are fairly vulnerable, the pilot notably is very exposed, being positioned quite high up on the fuselage, the tail gunner as well catches a lot of fire, but due to the B-10's maneuverability, the crew become very hard targets to hit while the aircraft is flying defensively.

Armaments

Suspended armament

The B-10B is able to be equipped with:

• 6 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs
• 2 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs
• 2 x 1000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs
• 1 x 2000 lb AN-M66A2 bomb

Defensive armament

The B-10B is defended with:

• 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, nose turret (600 rpg )
• 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, beam turret (600 rpg)
• 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, ventral turret (600 rpg)

Usage in battles

As a bomber, the B-10B does the job well, it can easily reach bombing points before interception and can level a base with a single 2000lb bomb, and can then turn away and return to base to rearm. If enemy fighters are at altitude, consider using clouds for cover, or entering a shallow dive towards friendly fighters, or the airfield. 

This aircraft works very well defensively, and can be very effective when flown with a squad mate. As the B-10 is very manoeuvrable, it can out turn most enemy fighters, but lacks the firepower to deal with them effectively, it has no fixed guns and is only equipped with .30 caliber machine guns, and controlling them manually in a dogfight isn't really a viable option. But when playing with a friend, the B-10 can engage a fighter, and while manoeuvring, can draw the enemy into a low energy state, making it a very easy target take out.

On your own, you can still comfortably dogfight one on one with most German and Italian monoplane aircraft, but if this fight is away from friendlies, another enemy fighter could engage with you, and being such a large target, a 2 on 1 fight likely wont go in your favor. As you are a big target, and with two enemies around you, one is likely going to take out a critical component sooner or later. 

Try diving towards friendlies before engaging in a dogfight, the closer you are to your allies, the more likely it is that they'll come to your aid, the further away you are, the more likely it is that an enemy will join the fight instead.

The B-10B's nose gunner, strafing artillery targets

If there are no enemies around later on in the match you can attack light ground targets by manually controlling your nose gunner, just make sure to watch out for any trees or ground hazards as there will be a delay before you can switch back to direct control of the aircraft.

The B-10B also works well in combined tank battles, as  the 2000lb bomb will be more than enough to take out several tanks in close proximity as most vehicles will be very lightly armoured. It is slow and a large target, but as most anti-air is fairly weak around 1.7, it should survive a bombing run.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable	Controllable	Controllable	Separate	Not ontrollable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator		Turret 7.62 mm belts	SBC-17
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7.62 mm MGs (turret)
III	Wings Repair	Engine			MBC-17
IV			Cover		LBC-17

Being a premium aircraft, it has all its modules researched by default.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very maneuverable for a bomber.
• The bombload is more than capable of leveling bases and vehicle formations. A single 2000 lb bomb can net you 850+ points in a match from a good run.
• The frontal gunner, while only having a .30 cal, can be used as a manual weapon if you keep the front of the plane on an enemies tail, or for attacking ground targets.
• As it's a less well known aircraft, enemies may not know how to effectively fight it.
• It can easily take fire from machine guns on the wings, and in general is fairly survivable.
• While having limited fire arcs on the rear turrets, they cover a wide area and can surprise enemies that don't know they're there.
• The 2000lb bomb works well in ground forces.

Cons:

• It's a large target, and even though the critical components are hard to hit individually, the large wings and tail will accumulate damage over time.
• Despite it's comparatively good speed, most Axis and Russian aircraft can catch up to it easily.
• Unlike its younger brother, the B-18, the B-10s rear gunners have a slightly restricted field of view over the tail, where the gunners can't fire.

History

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Media

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See also

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• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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