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?
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“why are bombers the largest, slowest, and leave maneuverable of the military aircraft, anyway?”
Well, because they are carrying a lot of bombs. Bombs are heavy. In WWII, they would drop 500lb – 1000lb bombs, so a plane capable of carrying them will be very large and the cargo it is carrying is very heavy. Then to protect it because it’s such a large slow moving target, you add gun turrets to it and that makes it even heavier.
The better solution was to make longer range fighters that could escort and protect the bombers, rather than loading down the bombers with extra guns and armor.
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