B-25J-1

B-25J-1

B-34

B-25J-20

B-25J-1

B-34

B-25J-20

USA

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.7	4.0	3.7

Class:

Bomber

Frontline bomber

Research:9 200

Purchase:16 000

Description

The B-25J-1 Mitchell is a Rank II medium bomber with a battle rating of 3.7 (AB/SB) and 4.0 (RB) It was introduced in Update 1.29.

Simply put the B-25 is the archetype of the medium bomber. It has versatile payloads (4 x 500 lb or 3 x 1,000 lb). It is faster than heavy bombers which can achieve over 340 mph in a dive to attack ground targets and as a bonus has offensive armament that allows it to fulfill the role of an air superiority bomber. Defensive guns are provided in form of turrets & gunner stations. The B-25J is quite heavily armed in that regard with seven 12.7 Browning M2 machine guns. In addition this aircraft is durable, however if the aircraft happens to sustain a direct hit to the fuel tank, there is a good chance of a fire followed by an explosion.

When flown properly, the B-25 Mitchell is among the best medium bombers in the game, with one of the most powerful defensive armaments at its tier. If you enjoy strafing ground targets with the B-25, then consider researching the PBJ-1H with 8 forward facing .50 cal Browning M2 machine guns and a 75 mm cannon or the PBJ-1J sporting an impressive 12 forward facing Browning M2 machine guns, both of which are Marine versions of the B-25 airframe and possess all the facets that make the B-25 Mitchell such a legendary aircraft.

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 3,049 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
420	?	7,500	32.9	??.?	4.1	??.?	750
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 3,049 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	?	7,500	??.?	??.?	?.?	?.?	750

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
			+	-
580	350	340	~4	~2

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 300	< 270	< 350	> 240

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
524 m	3,000 hp	3,339 hp

Survivability and armour

• 9.5 mm Steel plates all throughout cockpit
• 8 mm Steel plate behind pilot
• 8 mm Steel plate under nose gunner
• 9.5 mm Steel plate behind dorsal gunner
• 6.35 mm Steel plate behind beam gunners
• 38 mm Bulletproof glass in front of tail gunner
• 9.5 mm Steel plates in front of tail gunner

Armaments

Offensive armament

The B-25J-1 is armed with:

• 1 × 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, nose-mounted (400 rpg)
• 4 × 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, cheek-mounted (400 rpg - 1,600 total)

Suspended armament

The B-25J-1 can be outfitted with the following ordinance:

• 12 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (1,200 lb total)
• 4 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs (1,000 lb total)
• 4 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs + 8 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (1,800 lb total)
• 8 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 2 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs + 8 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (1,800 lb total)
• 4 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 10 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs + 1000 lb AN-M65A1 bomb (2,000 lb total)
• 3 x 1000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (3,000 lb total)

Defensive armament

The B-25J-1 is defended by:

• 1 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, nose turret (300 rpg)
• 2 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, tail turret (600 rpg = 1,200 total)
• 2 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, dorsal turret (400 rpg = 800 total)
• 1 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, 2 x beam turret (250 rpg = 500 total)

Usage in the battles

In realistic battles (and arcade to some extent), it is highly recommended to not exclusively bomb strategic bases and in general to not bomb from high altitudes. It was rarely used this way in combat and it makes it very easy for enemy fighters to approach and attack you from your defenseless belly. In addition, the bomber's maximum payload of 3 x 1,000 lb of bombs is not enough to destroy an enemy base in RB, which is useless in regards to decreasing ticket count and, most importantly, does not help your team. Thus, leave base bombing to the British heavy bombers you will likely also encounter on your team, whose payloads vastly outclass yours, and instead - if you wish to help your team as much as possible - use your five nose-mounted Brownings on ground targets. This is not only infinitely more exciting than base bombing, it can also lower the enemy's ticket count drastically, therefore helping your team win. Fly at low altitudes and attack light pillboxes and soft targets with your guns. If you fail to destroy a target, then pitch up and use your turrets to finish it off. Save your bombs for targets your guns cannot kill, such as heavy tanks and heavy pillboxes; the bombsight is very helpful in doing this (something which the dedicated strafing variants such as the PBJ-1J lack). Make sure to use a fuse timer, 3 seconds should be enough when bombing at treetop level with 1,000 lb bombs.

When strafing, be sure to watch your radar at all times for any incoming enemies so you can adequately prepare for an attack. When being attacked, fly away from the assailant and try to get them on your tail, and manually open fire with your defensive guns, making sure to watch your tracers and adjust fire so they hit the target. Remember that turret guns will jam if fired for a long duration, requiring them to be reloaded, which usually takes almost twenty seconds, during which an attacker will most certainly kill you. If the reticle starts blinking, the guns are very close to jamming, so immediately stop firing and wait for the guns to cool down. Many experienced players will attempt to use utilize the dead zones on your belly and the arcs beyond your twin rudders in their attack. If you find an enemy doing this to you, then switch back to flight view and maneuver so that they are in the firing arcs of your guns again and try as much as possible to keep them out of your dead zones and, essentially, make their attack as difficult as possible. The attacker will then either eventually lose patience and will fly right into your guns, giving you an easy kill, or you'll get a lucky snipe on their aircraft. It is also very advantageous to use the keyboard controls for pitch, roll, and yaw in the gunner view as it will allow you to make small maneuvers while still concentrating on defending yourself, letting you, for example, dodge fire or roll/pitch/yaw and shoot someone in your dead zones. Also, use Universal belts for your turrets as they will do the most damage to enemies and cause devastating fires.

If you lose tail control for whatever reason, then immediately turn back to the airfield and use combat flaps to keep your nose up. Make a landing by alternating between takeoff and combat flaps and, if needed, landing flaps. Make sure that your speed does not go too low; if you start nosing down with takeoff flaps then do not use landing flaps (unless in an emergency) as you'll lose speed and potentially crash. Instead, engage WEP and wait for your nose to rise. There is no set method to doing this and it takes lots of practice, but making these daring landings is very rewarding. If you lose an engine, do not engage flaps as you will lose speed, end up in a stall and will die, simply fly straight and slowly make your way back to base, using WEP if needed. If using manual engine controls, close the radiator of the dead engine, feather it, and open the radiator of the working engine to allow you to use WEP all the way back to the airfield without overheating.

Manual Engine Control

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

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator	Protective Vest	Offensive 12 mm	SBC-25
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 12 mm MGs	MBC-25
III	Wings Repair	Engine	Turret 12 mm
IV		Engine Injection	Cover	New 12 mm MGs (turret)	LBC-25

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Can take a beating
• Strong defensive guns
• Versatile bomb load
• Decent speed for a bomber
• A multi-use aircraft
• Forward facing gunner automatically starts firing approx 1,000 m from target, use as range finder
• Has forward facing 50 cal MGs which are very useful for strafing

Cons:

• Maneuvers stiffly
• Stiff elevators
• Difficult to pull out of a dive
• Often the B-25 will catch on fire
• No downward-facing defensive armament
• If tail control is lost, return to base and land utilizing flaps and engine throttling
• Relatively low payload compared to a heavy bomber
• Forward facing gunner will automatically fire at approx 1,000 m, alerting your target
• Low energy retention; any attacks that require maneuvering will cost speed and/or altitude

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

• http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/22479-b-25j-mitchell-official-thread/

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• page on aircraft encyclopedia;
• other literature.