DB-3A (China)

␗DB-3A

Martin 139WC

␗SB 2M-103U

␗DB-3A

Martin 139WC

␗SB 2M-103U

China

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.7	2.7	2.7

Class:

Bomber

Frontline bomber

Research:7 900

Purchase:10 000

Show in game

This page is about the Chinese bomber DB-3A (China). For Soviet version, see DB-3B.

Description

The ␗DB-3A is a rank II Chinese bomber with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

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	Max Speed (km/h at 6,250 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	389	374	9400	35.0	35.8	7.1	7.1	326
Upgraded	426	406		32.8	34.0	12.5	9.3

Details

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

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
600	320	N/A	N/A	280	~5	~2

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 280	< 240	< 300	> 270

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,000 m	1,100 hp	1,274 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
6,000 m	1,000 hp	1,158 hp

Survivability and armour

• 6 mm steel behind pilot
• Self-sealing fuel tanks, with neutral gas pressurization system (2 in each wing)

Armaments

Suspended armament

The DB-3A (China) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 10 x 50 kg FAB-50 bombs (500 kg total)
• 10 x 100 kg FAB-100 bombs (1,000 kg total)
• 3 x 250 kg FAB-250M43 bombs (750 kg total)
• 3 x 250 kg FAB-250M43 bombs + 10 x 100 kg FAB-100 bombs (1,750 kg total)
• 3 x 500 kg FAB-500 bombs (1,500 kg total)
• 1 x 500 kg FAB-500 bomb + 10 x 100 kg FAB-100 bombs (1,500 kg total)
• 1 x 1,000 kg FAB-1000 bomb (1,000 kg total)
• 1 x 1,000 kg FAB-1000 bomb + 6 x 100 kg FAB-100 bombs (1,600 kg total)
• 1 x 1,000 kg FAB-1000 bomb + 2 x 500 kg FAB-500 bombs (2,000 kg total)

Defensive armament

The DB-3A (China) is defended by:

• 1 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun, nose turret (1,000 rpg)
• 1 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun, dorsal turret (1,000 rpg)
• 1 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun, ventral turret (500 rpg)

Usage in battles

In simulator, the DB-3 has distinct pros and cons. It is a brilliant base / airfield-bombing plane with a maximum bombload of 1x 1000 kg + 2x 500 kg bombs, allowing it to easily finish a base or cripple airfield modules in one run. The bombs drop one by one, allowing flexible targeting. It has greatly improved handling and stability comparing with the previous SB2M, making flying a lot easier. However, the DB-3 is quite slow, making it an easy target to pick on. It also has next to no defensive firepower: only 3x 7.62mm MG in total, the one in the nose has great coverage, however, most opponents are not likely to take head-ons. The top turret cannot even aim horizontally nor directly at the tail, meaning that the seemingly suicidal tactic of tailing a bomber can actually destroy a DB-3. The belly gun has good negative angle but its horizontal guidance is too limited. Therefore you can only target opponents at your front, upper half and lower rear.

When taking off, the DB-3 will shift to the right, so it is best to set separate key-bind for left and right brakes to counter the torque. Given your weak guns, you can only survive if the room is rather empty or if the opponent also has weak firepower. If you are bombing a base, fly at treetop level to force any attacker to engage you from above so you can fight back. Bombing airfield is more dangerous, as you are not only exposed to anti-aircraft artillery fire but also attackers hiding in your gunner's dead zones. Climb to at least 2000 m before approaching the airfield, then target the modules of fuel sector (surrounded by 4 towers), residential area (a bunch of tents) and hangar (6 giant houses). Bombing the airstrip is the easiest but it seems to give fewer rewards. If you see an attacker trying to shoot at you, you will have to nudge the plane so that the target is within your gunner's guidance which is very awful. The bullets will not do lots of damage as the target might constantly get into your dead zones. Most of the times against manoeuvring or heavily armed/armoured attackers, you will not survive long.

Landing is easy and similar to the style of the SB2M. Line up with the airstrip when it occupies around 1/3 of your windscreen and descent to treetop level. Cut throttle to around 0-40% to drop speed to 200 kph, and deploy landing flaps and gears. Control the throttle so that the touchdown speed is around 140kph. Like the SB2M, if you don't slow down enough the DB-3 will bounce off again and again which might lead to a crash. Once you landed, you can keep breaking as the nose will not dip down and cause a propeller strike.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Turret 7 mm	Der-21
II		Compressor	Airframe		Der-19 250
III	Wings repair	Engine		New 7 mm MGs (turret)	Der-19 500
IV		Engine injection	Cover		Der-19 1000

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Great maximum bombload of 2x 500 kg + 1x 1000 kg bombs allows you to finish a base in one go, or even have spare bombs for other targets.
• Has a wide range of bomb combinations, meaning that you can choose between large and small targets
• Can break continuously until full stop, its nose will never strike the ground
• Nose turret has a wide coverage

Cons:

• Extremely weak defensive firepower: terrible gun coverage at the rear/bottom, you cannot aim at planes at your side, tail or underside. Gunners are unprotected, and the 7.62mm MGs lack damage
• Quite slow and large, making it an easy target
• Below average climb rate
• Only has landing flaps
• Negative deflection of the elevator will not pitch the plane down at >390 kph

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).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

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

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

Ilyushin Design Bureau (Илью́шинa Опытное конструкторское бюро)
Bombers	DB-3B · IL-4
Jet Bombers	IL-28* · IL-28Sh
Strike Aircraft	IL-8 (1944)
Il-2	IL-2 (1941) · IL-2 (1942) · IL-2M type 3 · IL-2M "Avenger" · IL-2M (1943) · IL-2-37 · IL-2 M-82
Il-10	IL-10 · IL-10 (1946)
Export/Captured
Bombers	␗DB-3A · ◊IL-28 · ◔IL-28
Strike Aircraft	▀IL-2 (1942) · ␗IL-10 (1946) · ◔IL-10
	* The Chinese Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation built unlicensed copies of the Il-28 known as the H-5.