View source for T18B

{{About
| about = Swedish bomber '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other versions
| link = B18 (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=saab_t18b_1
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
}}

== Description ==
<!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of and the creation and combat usage of the aircraft, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the aircraft in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' -->
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Swedish bomber {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.95 "Northern Wind"]].

== General info ==
=== Flight performance ===
{{Specs-Avia-Flight}}
<!-- ''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.'' -->

The T18B-1 is an exceptionally fast aircraft at its rank, zooming past its contemporary bombers and reaching into fighter territory, able to reach an excellent 595 km/h (370 mph) in RB and a staggering 619 km/h (385 mph) in AB. Its high speed and reasonable armament platform of 2 x 20 mm cannons + 1 x 13.2 mm machine gun allows it to be a respectable multi-role aircraft that can take on almost any combat situation you throw at it. One might think that the high performance comes at the cost of payload, as would be traditional with the ''Schnellbomber'' type of bomber, but this is not the case with the T18B, as it carries more than enough ordnance to either heavily damage a base (AB) or destroy a few (RB).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="70%"
! rowspan="2" | Characteristics
! colspan="2" | Max Speed<br>(km/h at 6,000 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude<br>(metres)
! colspan="2" | Turn time<br>(seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb<br>(metres/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run<br>(metres)
|-
! AB !! RB !! AB !! RB !! AB !! RB
|-
! Stock
| 572 || 555 || rowspan="2" | {{Specs|ceiling}} || 26.3 || 27.4 || 7.3 || 7.2 || rowspan="2" | 450
|-
! Upgraded
| 619 || 595 || 23.8 || 25.0 || 14.1 || 10.3
|-
|}

==== Details ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | Features
|-
! Combat flaps !! Take-off flaps !! Landing flaps !! Air brakes !! Arrestor gear
|-
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || X     <!-- ✓ -->
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="7" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wings (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear (km/h)
! colspan="3" | Flaps (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! Combat !! Take-off !! Landing !! + !! -
|-
| {{Specs|destruction|body}} || {{Specs|destruction|gear}} || 467 || 438 || 290 || ~7 || ~3
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities (km/h)
|-
! Ailerons !! Rudder !! Elevators !! Radiator
|-
| < 370 || < 350 || < 400 || > 420
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Avia-Armour}}
<!-- ''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.'' -->

[[File:B18-T18 Armor Plates.png|450px|thumb|right|Protective components found in the '''{{PAGENAME}}'''.]]

* 10 mm steel - cockpit floor under pilot's seat
* 10 mm steel - pilot's backseat
* 10 mm steel - rear gunner protective plate
* 10 mm steel - cockpit floor under gunner's seat
* 10 mm steel - aft protective plate

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

Your research path should be tailored to the role you wish to employ the T18B in. For the traditional bomber, it is important to research payload first as the stock payload is a pitiful 18 x 50 kg bombs. For the heavy fighter/interceptor, the offensive cannon upgrades are of great importance followed by flight performance upgrades. Ground attacker should be a mix of the two, as it is important for a ground-pounder to have both speed and payload.

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Avia-Armaments}}
=== Offensive armament ===
{{Specs-Avia-Offensive}}
<!-- ''Describe the offensive armament of the aircraft, if any. Describe how effective the cannons and machine guns are in a battle, and also what belts or drums are better to use. If there is no offensive weaponry, delete this subsection.'' -->

{{main|Akan m/41A (20 mm)|Akan m/39A (13.2 mm)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is armed with:

* 2 x 20 mm Akan m/41A cannons, chin-mounted (60 rpg = 120 total)
* 1 x 13.2 mm Akan m/39A machine gun, wing-mounted (300 rpg)

=== Suspended armament ===
{{Specs-Avia-Suspended}}
<!-- ''Describe the aircraft's suspended armament: additional cannons under the wings, bombs, rockets and torpedoes. This section is especially important for bombers and attackers. If there is no suspended weaponry remove this subsection.'' -->
{{main|sb m/42 (50 kg)|mb m/40 (250 kg)|mb m/41 (500 kg)|mb m/50 (600 kg)}}
{{main|psrak m/49B|srak m/51|m/38 (450 mm)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' can be outfitted with the following ordnance presets:

* 18 x 50 kg sb m/42 bombs (900 kg total)
* 3 x 250 kg mb m/40 bombs (750 kg total)
* 2 x 500 kg mb m/41 bombs (1,000 kg total)
* 2 x 600 kg mb m/50 bombs (1,200 kg total)
* 8 x psrak m/49B rockets
* 8 x srak m/51 rockets
* 1 x 450 mm m/38 torpedo

==== Custom loadout options ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! !! width="9%" | 1 !! width="9%" | 2 !! width="9%" | 3 !! width="9%" | 4 !! width="9%" | 5
| rowspan="9" width="30%" | <div class="ttx-image">[[File:Hardpoints_{{PAGENAME}}.png]]</div>
|-
! 50 kg sb m/42 bombs
| || 4 || 10 || 4 ||
|-
! 250 kg mb m/40 bombs
| || || 3 || ||
|-
! 500 kg mb m/41 bombs
| || || 2 || ||
|-
! 600 kg mb m/50 bombs
| || || 2 || ||
|-
! psrak m/49B rockets
| 4 || || || || 4
|-
! srak m/51 rockets
| 4 || || || || 4
|-
! 450 mm m/38 torpedoes
| || || 1 || ||
|-
| colspan="6" | Maximum permissible loadout weight: 1,620 kg<br>Maximum permissible weight imbalance: 450 kg
|-
|}

=== Defensive armament ===
{{Specs-Avia-Defensive}}
<!-- ''Defensive armament with turret machine guns or cannons, crewed by gunners. Examine the number of gunners and what belts or drums are better to use. If defensive weaponry is not available, remove this subsection.'' -->

{{main|Akan m/39 (13.2 mm)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is defended by:

* 1 x 13.2 mm Akan m/39 machine gun, dorsal turret (300 rpg)

Compared to the other Saab 18 models, the T18B has one less defensive 13.2 mm Akan m/39, leaving its belly open for enemy fighters to attack from below if left unattended. The single 13.2 mm can still prove lethal to planes at the BR, if a enemy is straight behind the 13.2 mm can do quite some damage to their engine and knock out pilots.

== Usage in battles ==
<!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' -->
Speed and altitude are your best friends when flying the T18B-1, as you must keep both up in order to ensure your survival. You may be fast, but you are not invincible, as there are many aircraft at the BR that will easily catch you such as the [[P-47D-28|P-47D]], [[P-61C-1|P-61]], [[Bf 109 F-4]] and the [[I-185 (M-82)|I-185]] [[I-185 (M-71)|twins]]. However, you can easily turn the tables on your would-be attackers by forcing them to stall then shred them with your impressive forward armament.

Alternatively, you can take the offensive route by employing a heavy fighter flying style and hunt down enemy bombers. You can mainly do this as a result of your bomber air spawn, but you must be careful to avoid enemy interceptors. One must take care not to expend too much ammunition on a single target, so in order to avoid doing so, they must aim for the critical components of the enemy bomber (wings, engines or tail) if they can't force a head-on.

Lastly, the T18B can be used as a reasonably effective ground attacker thanks to its immense loadout options. It is not recommended to use the bomb loadouts that mount the extra m/42 bombs when employing this play style unless they are skilled with aiming their bombs, as the m/42 bombs have a very small explosion radius and have to be directly on target to nab a kill. Your ideal loadouts should be either the 3 x m/40 bombs, 3 x m/40 + 8 x m/49A rockets, or 2 x m/50 bombs + 8 x m/49A rockets for some overkill, as the m/50 bombs have a very high effective destruction radius of 18 meters, although the pilot should take care that they don't end up exploding themselves (also known as a "significant emotional event"). Using a time fuse for the m/50 bombs is a must, unless the pilot is going on a high altitude bombing mission instead of low altitude CAS. 2-4 seconds for the m/50 should suffice.

=== Manual Engine Control ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | MEC elements
|-
! rowspan="2" | Mixer
! rowspan="2" | Pitch
! colspan="3" | Radiator
! rowspan="2" | Supercharger
! rowspan="2" | Turbocharger
|-
! Oil !! Water !! Type
|-
| Not controllable || Controllable<br>Auto control available || Controllable<br>Auto control available || Controllable<br>Auto control available || Separate || Not controllable<br>1 gear || Not controllable
|-
|}

=== Pros and cons ===
<!-- ''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".'' -->

'''Pros:'''

* Reasonably effective armament layout
* Excellent speed, faster than a good amount of fighters at the tier
* Good manoeuvrability for a twin-engine aircraft, especially for a bomber
* Highly effective air brakes make landing and rearmament much easier
* Can operate as a twin-engine fighter, high altitude bomber or strike fighter (depends on chosen payload)
* Can mount rockets with up to 500 mm of penetration
* Has access to two of the massive Swedish m/50 bombs
* Has access to a torpedo
* Despite only having one MG for defence, the MG itself is excellent

'''Cons:'''

* Poor protective components compared to other strike fighters
* Only one turret
* Fairly unstable on landing
* No ventral turret, defenceless when attacked from below
* Torpedo has very poor drop speed, and you need to slow down a great amount to drop it

== 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 long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' -->

In 1941, Flygvapnet wanted a new modern torpedo bomber that would be able to drop aerial torpedoes. SAAB recommended the Saab 18 as the frame to be the base of the new torpedo bomber. The B 18A was first option considered due to it being slower so it would be able to drop the Swedish torpedoes, but the bomb bay was deemed too small to fit a torpedo. Plans were laid to have the torpedo external on the frame of the aircraft, but this was scrapped on completion of the design.

It was decided to use the B 18B which had a slightly longer frame and was planned to have a new designed bomb bay where they could fit in a torpedo. The resulting T 18B didn't prove successful as a torpedo bomber, it was trialled with a 53 cm torpedo which was most likely called Torpedo fm/45 but had to be loaded at a 4.5⁰ angle forward in the bomber bay. During trials of the torpedo it was shown that it could only make a successful drop from 15 m in the air which was not sufficient enough for Flygvapnet.

T 18B along with the new bomb bay got also a different more aerodynamic nose but also lost one of the defensive gunners below. Other trials went with the T 18B with a 57 mm.

== Media ==
<!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' -->

;Skins
* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=saab_t18b_1 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Images
<gallery mode="packed-hover"  heights="200">
File:T 18B Hangar.jpeg
</gallery>

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|i361VTW05P8|'''FEAR this PLANE! T18B-1''' - ''Jengar''}}

== 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.'' -->

* [[Do 217 (Family)]]: Similarly designed German ''Schnellbomber''
* [[Tu-2 (Family)]]: Soviet equivalent
* [[PV-2D]]: Similar American bomber

;Similar Frame:
* [[B18A]]
* [[B18B]]
* [[T18B (57)]]

== External links ==
<!--''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''-->

* "FPL 18 – Historik." 2020. Svensk Militär Flygplanshistorik. October 7, 2020. https://svfplhist.home.blog/fpl-18-historik/.

{{AirManufacturer Saab}}
{{Sweden bombers}}