# Could fighters have at least partially replaced bombers in WWII Europe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 18, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-fighters-have-at-least-partially-replaced-bombers-in-wwii-europe/613229 "2012-02-18T04:30:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 69
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-fighters-have-at-least-partially-replaced-bombers-in-wwii-europe/613229/69 "2012-03-02T21:23:07Z")
> [@Hate to complain but...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hate-to-complain-but/74622/46): > > In _[Hell Hawks](http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Hawks-American-Savaged-Wehrmacht/dp/0760329184)_, a mission is described in which 36 P-47s were sent against a German railroad bridge. They swooped in at almost 400 miles an hour and each one dropped two 500-pounders. Sure, a lot of them missed outright; but tactical dive-bombing was accurate enough that _seventy-two_ 500-pounders obliterated the bridge. Sorry, not to be argumentative, I’m just confused. The entire payload of the mission was 72 bombs, two per plane. And “a lot of them missed outright”. So how many bombs on target did it take to actually obliterate the bridge? I’m thinking not so many. I think the accuracy of tactical dive bombing might be more fairly judged by a comparison of the number actually needed to effect destruction versus the number thrown in the bridge’s general direction. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-fighters-have-at-least-partially-replaced-bombers-in-wwii-europe/613229)._