Havoc Mk I (Great Britain)

▄Havoc Mk I

▄Havoc Mk I

Britain

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.0	2.0	2.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Frontline bomber

Bomber

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Show in game

This page is about the premium British bomber Havoc Mk I (Great Britain). For other versions, see DB-7 (Family).

Description

The ▄Havoc Mk I is a premium rank II British bomber with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB/RB) and 2.3 (SB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27. It costs 400 Golden Eagles . The Havoc Mk I is an excellent all-round bomber for its BR. The combination of speed, agility and a forward-facing armament of 4x .303 Brownings coupled with 4x 500 lbs. bombs makes the Havoc a very versatile platform. Its speed allows the bomber to quickly enter and exit the combat area, run down other bombers or act as a heavy fighter. The aircraft is capable of flying on a single engine, giving it a higher chance of surviving an engagement and making it back to base. In general the Havoc has a sturdy airframe, capable of tanking large volumes of low-calibre mg fire (the most common weapon around its BR). The defensive armament of 2 separate .303 Vickers K machine guns is sufficient.

General info

Flight performance

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 4,634 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	502	488	8000	27.8	28.6	9.4	9.3	550
Upgraded	533	518		26.2	27.0	13.8	11.5

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
665	296	445	445	296	~6	~3

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 260	< 320	< 300	> 320

Survivability and armour

• 9.5 mm Steel plate behind pilot.
• 8 mm Steel plate on fuselage between nose gunner and pilot.
• 12.7 mm Steel plate behind nose gunner.
• 12.7 mm Steel plates around ventral and dorsal gunners.
• No armour glazing
• Critical components located at the front and in the wings of the aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)
• Dual fuel tanks located in the wing leading edge

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Havoc Mk I (Great Britain) is armed with:

• 4 x 7.7 mm Browning machine guns, chin-mounted (500 rpg = 2,000 total)

Suspended armament

The Havoc Mk I (Great Britain) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 4 x 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs (2,000 lb total)

Defensive armament

The Havoc Mk I (Great Britain) is defended by:

• 1 x 7.7 mm Vickers K machine gun, dorsal turret (500 rpg)
• 1 x 7.7 mm Vickers K machine gun, ventral turret (500 rpg)

Usage in battles

General advice

The relative high speed of the Havoc gives it plenty of options during a battle, at the start of the battle the player can engage in different valid tactics, such as hunting bombers, bombing ground targets or intercepting climbing fighters. A general advise is to keep altitude, bomb ground targets and then search for enemies to engage. 4x .303 brownings can make short work of any fighter at its BR.

In general the Havoc Mk I will face slower but more maneuverable opponents, especially when they are still climbing to altitude, the player can exploit this by booming and zooming the climbing fighters giving a tactical advantage to its own team. Do not engage in turnfights with enemy fighters.

Another tactic is to bomb ground targets, quickly return to base and rearm in order to make two or more runs on enemy ground targets. A well placed bomb will make short work of any medium tank of pillbox, the machine guns are enough to take out vehicles, AAA and artillery.

Most notable enemies

The most notable enemies for the Havoc Mk I are fast (climbing) fighters such as the Ki-44, MiG-3, He-100, Bf-109 E/F and heavily armed interceptors such as the Bf-110C, Pe-3, Yak 2 KABB etc. The fighters can generally keep pace with the Havoc while the interceptors' heavy armament can make short work of your airframe. The best way to engage these opponents is to:

A. If in a higher energy state (i.e, higher/faster) use boom and zoom tactics.

B. If in an equal or lower energy state (i.e. same altitude/speed) run towards friendlies and pepper the enemy with your defensive armament.Your speed can keep you alive to fight another day!

Slower and more maneuverable enemies are generally easy to avoid by flying away (use a slight dive). You will however have a hard time engaging them as they can easily avoid your shots.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Turret 7 mm	Offensive 7 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs (turret)	New 7 mm MGs
III	Wings repair	Engine
IV			Cover
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Air spawn allows it to hunt opposing bombers
• Fast for rank I bomber
• Premium status
• Has a lot of ammo
• Decent chin mounting of the 4 x 7.7 mm machine guns
• Good bomb load
• Good defensive armament for its rank
• Sleek low drag fuselage offers a smaller target
• Can fly on one engine

Cons:

• 4 x 7.7 mm machine guns are subpar in offensive capabilities
• Low visibility cockpit with incomplete cockpit model
• Bombardier will almost always be killed from fire anywhere near the front of the aircraft
• Engines will overheat easily at higher altitudes on 100%

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

In-game description

In 1936 the Douglas Aircraft Company began work on a new ground attack aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps. After liaising with the USAAC to discuss the exact requirements, it became clear that a twin engine design would be necessary for the payload and firepower required. Designed with an unconventional tricycle undercarriage and a modular nose section to allow a quicker change between the bomber or attack role, the new Model 7B first flew in October 1938. However, even after the success of the highly maneuverable prototype, the USAAC stated that they had no interest in the Model 7B so Douglas began to investigate their options of selling the aircraft on the export market. France was the first company to order the new DB-7 (Douglas Bomber); but after France was defeated by Germany in 1940, arrangements were made to ship the remainder of France's order to Britain. The DB7 initially entered service with the RAF as the Boston Mk.I and was used as a multi-engine conversion trainer.

The British Air Ministry was impressed with the new aircraft, and continued orders from Douglas. Another variant of the aircraft was given the name Havoc Mk.I and was fitted with an Airborne Interception radar, additional armor and nose mounted Browning 0.303 inch machine guns to be used as a night fighter. The navigator's cockpit and the nose glazing remained intact. The aircraft was painted matt black and flame damping exhaust systems were installed in an attempt to add an element of night camouflage. A basic set of second flying controls were also added to the gunner's position, as it was impossible to access the pilot during flight and, in the event of an emergency, the gunner could at least attempt to fly the aircraft to a landing if the pilot was incapacitated. A further modification of this was the Havoc Mk.I (Intruder) which had four 0.303 inch machine guns fitted beneath the bomb aimer's position.

The Havoc's impressive performance did, however, come at a price – the aircraft's range was severely limiting. With this in mind, RAF Bomber Command utilised the Havoc in anti-shipping strikes and night airfield raids over Holland. One tactic employed was for a Havoc to pretend to be a German aircraft that had dropped behind its group: it would fire signal flares over an enemy airfield and turn on its navigation lights as if about to land. If the ruse was successful, the night runway lights would be illuminated, allowing the Havoc to attack the enemy airfield with far greater ease. A bombing run whilst enemy aircraft were landing could also be particularly effective; as well as destroying enemy aircraft on the ground it also cause panic among enemy anti-aircraft gunners who would then open fire on all machines in the air, including their own. Sometimes, after several of these raids in a row, the Germans would even open fire on their own aircraft assuming they were British "blockers".

Some 140 DB7s originally intended for French service were acquired by RAF Bomber Command for use as Havocs, with a further 40 of these being converted to the Intruder role.

Media

The Shooting Range #25 - Pages of History section at 00:42 discusses the Havoc.

See also

Related development

• Douglas A-20 Havoc / DB-7 - Variants of the A-20/DB-7
• Douglas A-26 Invader - Successor of the A-20/DB-7

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Bristol Beaufighter
• Messerschmitt Bf 110
• Northrop P-61 Black Widow
• Petlyakov Pe-2

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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

Douglas Aircraft Company
Strike Aircraft	A-20G-25 · A-26B-10 · A-26B-50 · AD-2 · AD-4 · A-1H
Bombers	TBD-1 · B-18A · SBD-3 · BTD-1 · A-26C-45 · A-26C-45DT
Turboprops	A2D-1
Jet Aircraft	F3D-1 · F4D-1
A-4 Skyhawk	A-4B · A-4E Early
Export	▄Havoc Mk I · ▄Boston Mk I · ▄DB-7 · ▂A-20G-30 · ▄AD-4 · ▄AD-4NA
A-4 Skyhawk	A-4H · A-4E Early (M) · Ayit · A-4E
	The Douglas Aircraft Company merged with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas.