LeO 451 late
Contents
| This page is about the French medium bomber LeO 451 late. For other version, see LeO 451 early. |
Description
The LeO 451 late is a Rank II French bomber
with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X".
General info
Flight Performance
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 6,250 m) |
Max altitude (meters) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (meters/second) |
Take-off run (meters) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 466 | 451 | 10500 | 31.3 | 32.2 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 550 |
| Upgraded | 517 | 490 | 28.8 | 30.0 | 9.6 | 5.8 | ||
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 | + | - | ||
| 550 | 340 | 400 | 400 | 270 | ~7 | ~6 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 315 | < 310 | < 350 | > 340 |
Survivability and armour
- 12 mm behind the pilot
- 12 mm behind the dorsal gunner
- Self-sealing fuel tanks (2 in each wing)
Armaments
Offensive armament
- 1 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine gun, nose mounted (1500 rounds)
Suspended armament
The LeO 451 late can be outfitted with payload options of:
- 16 x 50 kg G.A.M.Mn 50 bombs (800 kg = total)
- 7 x 100 kg №.1 bombs (700 kg = total)
- 1 x 100 kg №.1 bombs + 6 x 200 kg №.1 bombs (1,300 kg = total)
- 2 x 500 kg №.2 bombs + 1 x 100 kg №.1 bombs + 4 x 200 kg №.1 bombs (1,900 kg = total)
Defensive armament
The LeO 451 late is defensively armed with:
- 1 x 20 mm Hispano 404 cannon, dorsal turret (120 rounds) + 2 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine gun (750 RPG)
- 1 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine gun, ventral turret (500 rounds)
Usage in battles
In Simulator Battles, the Leo 451 can be used as more than just a bomber. Due to the size of the aircraft, it is able to manoeuvre more like a heavy fighter allowing it to fight against other twin-engine aircraft or anything heavier. Unfortunately, the lack of proper offensive armament means that scoring hits will do little other than damage fuel and oil tank in most cases. In any kind of aerial combat, the dorsal gunner is one of the best options for scoring solid hits, especially when flying under other aircraft and firing upwards into them. Flying this close to get a shot comes with risks as flying in front of the enemies guns will also paint a target on your aircraft. For defending from fighters a good tactic is to gain some altitude so that when an enemy appears you can accelerate into a dive. A fast aircraft makes it much harder for fighters to close the distance giving the dorsal gunner and opportunity to do his job. While diving to make an aircraft fast can be a good thing, it is important to not go too fast as the wings are not invincible and will potentially rip off. Turning in this aircraft is relatively effective for a plane its size, though unfortunately, it does not handle like a sports car. Factors such as an empty bomb bay will increase its manoeuvrability to something closer to a heavy fighter.
When it comes to the ground attack role, the bombs are a gimmie, for destroying tanks and pillboxes, though, if lucky enough an entire armoured column may be destroyed. On the other hand, the nose gun can be used to attack lightly armoured ground targets such as trucks or anti-aircraft guns, while the 20 mm dorsal gun can be used to take out armoured cars.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Not controllable | Controllable Automatic pitch |
Controllable | Not controllable | Combined | Controllable | Not controllable |
Modules
| Tier | Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IA | Fuselage Repair, Radiator | Offensive 7mm | Turret 20mm | 100 GPs | ||
| II | Compressor | Airframe | New 7 mm MGs | 200 GPs | ||
| III | Wings Repair | Engine | Turret 7 mm | New 20 mm cannons (turret) | 500 GPs | |
| IV | Engine Injection | Cover | New 7 mm MGs (turret) | |||
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Dorsal gunner has large ammunition pool
- Comes included with an offensive armament
- Very manoeuvrable after the payload has been released
- Accelerates very fast in a dive
- Abilities allow for it to multifunction as a bomber, heavy fighter and attacker
- Powerful dorsal turret
Cons:
- Dorsal gunners main gun runs out of ammunition before the coaxial 7.5 mm machine gun
- Offensive armament is insufficient for most engagements
- Prone to engine fires
- Aircraft does not excel in any particular role
- Many blind spots for gunners
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 big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.
Development of the LeO 451 began in the early 1930s, after the newly formed Armée de l'air issued the so called Plan I, intended to increase the number of modern military aircraft available to the French Air Force. As part of this plan, the young Air Force was keen on expanding and developing their strategic bombing branch. However, as the already available bombers, such as the Farman F.221, were considered unsuitable for the needs of the Air Force, a set of specifications was issued for the development of a brand new bomber. Among other aircraft manufacturers, Lioré et Olivier (which would be nationalized as part of SNCASE) also submitted their LeO 45 design. Being a long-time supplier to the French Air Force, Lioré et Olivier had a reputation of building reliable and effective bombers dating back to WW1. Thanks to this, the further development of the LeO 45 was approved. The first prototype (LeO 45-01), powered by a pair of Hispano-Suiza engines, took flight on 16 January 1937. Despite showing some minor issues, the LeO 45 prototype displayed excellent performance. A second prototype, equipped with a pair of Gnome-Rhone engines was also constructed and subsequently designated LeO 451-01. Testing of the 451 prototype began in October 1938.
However, due to various production issues associated with the Gnome-Rhone engine, production of the LeO 451 was delayed, beginning only in late 1938. Although the Armée de l'air only fielded a handful of operational LeO 451 bombers at the outbreak of WW2, their number would rise up prior to the Invasion of France in May 1940. During this chapter of WW2, the LeO 451 saw wide use against both advancing German forces on the east and Italian forces on the south. While the aircraft suffered great losses at the hands of Luftwaffe’s superior fighters and the Wehrmacht’s relentless anti-air guns, it fared a lot better on the southern front against Italian forces. Nonetheless, the LeO 451 did eventually retire in September 1957 as the final pre-war French aircraft to leave active duty.
- From Devblog
Media
An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.
Read 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.
Sources
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- page on aircraft encyclopedia;
- other literature.
| Lioré et Olivier (SNCASE) | |
|---|---|
| Bombers | LeO 451 early · LeO 451 late |
| France bombers | |
|---|---|
| Farman | F.222.2 · N.C.223.3 |
| Latécoère | Late 298D |
| Potez | Potez 633 |
| Liore et Olivier | LeO 451 early · LeO 451 late |
| Bloch | M.B.174A-3 · M.B.162 · M.B.175T |
| American | V-156-F · Martin 167-A3 · ▄A-35B · ▄SB2C-5 · B-26C · ▄PBY-5A Late · ▄PB4Y-2 |
| British | Lancaster MR.7 |
