Because I frequently look up military aircraft a lot on Wikipedia, and time and time again, I keep hearing how bombers are slower and less maneuverable than either fighters, attackers, or multirole aircraft. So does that mean that bombers are more heavily armored than the other three types of military aircraft? If not, and armor just weighs down *any* plane, why are bombers the largest, slowest, and leave maneuverable of the military aircraft, anyway?
In: 258
time to learn about the [Survivability onion](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHQakMQXYAEbgDL?format=jpg&name=small)
Don’t be there
if you have to be there, don’t be seen
If you are seen, don’t be targeted
if you are targeted, don’t be fired upon
if you are fired upon, don’t be hit
if you are hit, don’t be penetrated
if you are penetrated, don’t die.
In order to die, all these things need to happen. increasing protection of one of these things increases your chances of survival. In real life, changes to a system typically causes increases and decreases in different layers, and the algebra is to make the entire onion as big as possible.
Armor in planes is non-existent in modern times. because armor weighs you down. This makes you slower, which makes you easier to be seen, targeted and hit. While it helps to not be penetrated, you’re total “onion” is smaller, and therefore it isn’t worth it. We make planes “safer’ by adding speed (harder to see, target & hit), stealth (harder to see, target & hit), altitude (harder to hit), because these have little negative tradeoffs as opposed to adding armor.
edit: formatting change.
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