B-18A

B-18A

TBD-1

PBY-5 Catalina

B-18A

TBD-1

PBY-5 Catalina

USA

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.3	1.7

Class:

Bomber

Frontline bomber

Research:2 000

Purchase:2 100

Show in game

Description

The B-18A is a rank I American bomber with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/RB) and 1.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows".

This is the first multi-engine land-based bomber available in the American Bomber tech tree. With a maximum bomb load of 2000 lbs, it is a decent medium bomber, although its gunners' fields of fire are somewhat poor, the only viable one being the dorsal turret gunner which suffers from the large blind spot the rudder creates directly behind the aircraft. It is recommended to level bomb at high altitude, as its poor manoeuvrability means you will have a hard time bombing moving ground targets at low altitude without a relatively straight bombing run.

General info

Flight Performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 3,049 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
357	344	7500	21.9	22.8	5.7	5.7	500
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 3,049 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
395	375	7500	20.1	21.0	10.3	7.7	500

Details

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

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flaps (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
		340	~10	~4

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 200	< 270	< 250	> 324

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
1,158 m	860 hp	1,032 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
2,926 m	850 hp	1,020 hp

Survivability and armour

• No armour
• Engines and fuel tanks in root of wing

Armaments

Suspended armament

The B-18A can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 12 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (1,200 lb total)
• 8 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 4 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 2 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 1 x 2,000 lb AN-M66A2 bomb (2,000 lb total)

Defensive armament

The B-18A is defended by:

• 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, chin turret (500 rpg)
• 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, dorsal turret (500 rpg)
• 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, ventral turret (500 rpg)

Usage in battles

As the first non-naval bomber available to the Americans, this plane is faster than its predecessors in the tech tree, the PBY flying boats. Its bomb load isn't bad for tier 1, with its maximum bomb load being either 1 2000lbs bomb (which is enough to destroy a base in one strike in RB as of update 1.95) or eight 250lbs bombs, which is more than enough to take out a base with two bombs left to spare at matches in the 1.0-2.0 range. The defensive armament is somewhat lackluster however, with only 3 defensive positions, and of the 3 only one is somewhat viable for the defence of the aircraft. The lower ventral gunner is almost useless, and easily taken out, and the frontal gunner is only useful if your current enemy is directly in front and below you. The last turret, a massive dorsal contraption, can fire anywhere in around the aircraft. However, it cannot fire at things directly above it or below it, limiting its effectiveness. In addition, a significant bind spot is formed by to the rather large tail fin and rudder. Overall this bomber can be considered a trainer for the later American heavy bombers with its slow lumbering presence, high bomb load and multiple defensive positions.

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	LBC-17
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs (turret)
III	Wings repair	Engine			SBC-17
IV		Engine injection	Cover		MBC-17

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fairly manoeuvrable for a bomber
• Single 2000 lb bomb can destroy a entire base, decimate vehicle formations, and be of great use in battles
• Frontal gunner has a bigger field of fire allowing some flexibility in engaging other aircraft
• Fairly fast for its tier and class, meaning you can outrun most biplanes, Russian I-153s being an exception
• Similar playstyle to the B-10, so any players new to the Bolo that have used the B-10 can expect the same general performance
• Matchmaking tends to place the B-18A against fairly weak enemy fighters

Cons:

• Rather slow.
• Weak defensive armament won't help you very well against enemy fighters
• Nose machine gun can't fire directly to the front
• Very large plane and can be a easy target to shootdown without a fighter escort
• Defensive armament: .30cal MGs cannot compete with its Russian or German counterparts, or other nations that have a fire rate advantage
• The engines are fairly easy to target and be knocked out with centerlined weaponry. Yak-1 and LaGG series are very deadly to a B-18
• It has gained a notoriety for its bombload, meaning you are a team wide target
• When doing a loop, it commonly overshoots the cursor, leading to a loss (or gain) of speed

History

The B-18 Bolo was designed because the US Army wanted a new bomber that was faster and carried a heavier bomb load than the existing Martin B-10.

Two competitors showed up. Boeing model 299 (B-17), and the Douglas DB-1. Although the Boeing design was clearly superior (heavier bombload, longer range, and better defensive armament) The Boeing model 299 crashed upon take-off, and the Army immediately switched to the Douglas model. The lower price also counted in favour of the B-18 ($58,000 compared to $99,260). The B-18 played a stop-gap role until better bombers (B-17 and B-24) were built to replace it. The B-18 was not very widely used due to the lack of defensive armament and speed. Only 350 B-18s were built until production stopped and the plane was declared obsolete.

Media

Images

• 

  B-18A with WT Live custom skin of the B-18A Bolo 37-0469 from the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron.

Skins

• B-18A Bolo 37-0469 from the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron by user Bethelgause

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.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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

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