M.B.162

M.B.162

B-26C

▄PB4Y-2

M.B.162

B-26C

▄PB4Y-2

France

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.0	5.0	4.0

Class:

Bomber

Long Range bomber

Research:26 000

Purchase:76 000

Description

The M.B.162 is a rank III French bomber with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB/SB) and 5.0 (RB). It was introduced in Update 1.73 "Vive la France".

General info

Flight performance

The Bloch M.B.162 is the best indigenously-designed bomber France has at its disposal, behaving similarly to the American B-17. It is deceptively quick for a strategic bomber, and has an excellent climb rate that allows it to get to its safe altitude quickly. However, its excellent performance does not mean that it is lacking in bomb load or defensive armaments as one might expect. Although having a lower total capacity than the earlier N.C.223.3, it has a higher bomb load than any other indigenous French bomber and a defensive armament that matches the previously mentioned 223. All-in-all, the 162 can be seen as a sort of "Best of Both Worlds" of the French bomber tree, combining the excellent speed, climb rate and manoeuvrability of the lighter twin engined bombers with the bomb load and defensive armament of the heavy bombers.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 3,000 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	508	497	10300	27.8	28.3	8.5	8.5	650
Upgraded	571	537		26.7	27.0	16.2	11.6

Details

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

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
560	280	340	300	260	~4	~2

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 325	< 310	< 420	> 180

Compressor	Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
Setting 1	4,200 m	1,055 hp	1,335 hp

Survivability and armour

• No armour plating
• Six total self-sealing fuel tanks located in wings

Armaments

Suspended armament

The M.B.162 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 6 x 200 kg No.1 bombs + 6 x 100 kg No.1 bombs (1,800 kg total)
• 4 x 500 kg No.2 bombs (2,000 kg total)

Defensive armament

The M.B.162 is defended by:

• 1 x 20 mm Hispano 404 cannon, dorsal turret (120 rpg)
• 1 x 20 mm Hispano 404 cannon, ventral turret (120 rpg)
• 1 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine gun, 2 x beam turrets (500 rpg)

Usage in battles

The M.B.162 is a heavy bomber, and therefore should be flown as such. When you start a match, you will want to climb to 6-7 km in altitude to protect yourself from German and Italian fighters that will climb to intercept you. With both of the payload options, all bombs are needed to destroy a bombing base. It is worthy to note that the M.B.162 can be significantly more aggressive in Arcade, where its already excellent performance is boosted to further levels.

However, being a bomber, fighters will go out of their way to take you down (sometimes even at the expense of their own aircraft). Although the Hispanos are relatively inaccurate when fired in long bursts, they can be very devastating when fired in .5 second bursts at an aircraft's cockpit. But it is also to note that if you can hit an enemy with your turrets, they can hit you with their guns as well, which can be a large problem when fighting the multi-cannon armed Fw 190's, Bf 109's, C.202EC/C.205 and G.55 that all mount the universally feared MG 151 that has access to the dreaded minengeschoß round.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Combined	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Turret 7 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs (turret)
III	Wings repair	Engine		Turret 20 mm	500 GPs
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 20 mm cannons (turret)

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful Hispano 404 cannons in dorsal and ventral turrets
• Effective bomb payload
• Respectable speed for a heavy bomber
• Excellent climb rate

Cons:

• Turrets cannot turn 360 degrees
• HS.404 cannons have low ammunition count
• No turrets protecting the front, perpendicular sides, or directly vertical
• Only 2 payload options

History

The M.B.162 was derived from the original civilian airliner Bloch M.B. 160 already in service and was built as mail plane by the Société des Avions Marcel Bloch. Société des Avions Marcel Bloch was a French aircraft manufacturer of both military and civilian aircraft which changed its name to Dassault Aviation after the end of World War II. The company was originally founded by Marcel Bloch (hence "MB" in the aircraft designations) who, after the war changed his name to Marcel Dassault, the Bloch M.B. 162 shares very few common points with his civilian counterpart, especially concerning its wings

The aircraft in-game represents a heavy bomber created by Henri Déplante and Lucien Servanty in order to satisfy the A20 program concerning a category B5 bomber, which had a crew of 5 persons utilised for both day and night bombing. Three M.B.162s were ordered into production in 1937.

Unfortunately, the first flight of the M.B.162 wasn't until the 1st of June 1940 and it never saw combat during the Battle of France (10 May to 25 June 1940). With the fall of France, the prototype of the M.B.162 fell into the Luftwaffe's hands and was used as transport aircraft for the rest of the war. After the war, the aircraft was returned to the French who utilised it in the Armée de l'Air and became the origin of the SNCASE Languedoc (post-war airliner, used for hypersonic experimentations).

Two versions of this plane existed: the MB.162.01 (prototype, one built) and the MB.162 Bn.5 (Production model, never produced).

Media

Camouflages:

• French camouflage of the M.B. 162 by Vaxioss [Semi-Historical]
• German Camouflage of the captured M.B.162 by MrSpacemau5 [Semi-Historical]

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

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

External links

• Dassault Aviation official page concerning the aircraft
• [Wikipedia] Bloch MB.162

References

Biblography

• Dassault-aviation website L’avion MB 161, de taille légèrement inférieure et de performances comparable au B-17, ne possède que très peu d’éléments en commun avec les MB 160 et MB 161, son aile, notamment, est très différente., Dassault-aviation website, On-line.
• Dassault-aviation website La construction du prototype à Courbevoie est retardée jusqu’à la fin de 1939. Assemblé à Villacoublay après son transfert par route au printemps 1940, il effectue son premier vol le 1er juin 1940 équipé de quatre Gnôme et Rhône14 N 48/49de 1100 ch., Dassault-aviation website, On-line.

France bombers
Farman	F.222.2 · N.C.223.3
Latécoère	Late 298D
Potez	Potez 633
Liore et Olivier	LeO 451 early · LeO 451 late
Bloch	M.B.174A-3 · M.B.162 · M.B.175T
American	V-156-F · Martin 167-A3 · ▄A-35B · ▄SB2C-5 · B-26C · ▄PBY-5A Late · ▄PB4Y-2
British	Lancaster MR.7