Penetration power of aircraft rockets

[Epée]

What is the penetration of aircraft rockets?

I am playing a PBEM where I (amis) am being thrashed by a KingTiger. I my air support showed up, although late, and during two turns fired rockets on the KT....but no damage was done...oh boy, was I dissapointed.

Can rockets actually harm a KT? Are there any figures for their penetration capability?

Thanks,

Epée

[Jeff Heidman]

My understanding is that a rocket can likely penetrate the top armor of an AFV, especially if it can get a hit over the rear deck.

The real problem is getting the hit to begin with. Rockets are not very accurate, and probably got direct hits <5% of the time, if that.

Jeff Heidman

[Epée]

Damn innacurate rockets...I hope that plane is caring a pair of 500 pound bombs with it.

Is that possible? It has already made two runs and only used rockets...

Epée

[Guest Michael emrys]

After a brief flirtation with KE rounds, the Alllies switched to HE warheads on their aeriel rockets. Like you say, they weren't accurate enough to count on getting a direct hit, but the HE rounds gave them a good chance of getting a mobility hit with a near miss.

In any event, an after-action survey of the fighting came to the realization that only a very, very small percentage of the armored vehicles the Allies killed in Normandy were air-to-ground kills. Most of the damage from the air was done to soft vehicles. And that's no small thing, as a tank without gas or ammo is a large, expensive piece of junk, as the Germans discovered during the Battle of the Bulge.

Michael

[MadGrenadier]

Heh, I remember reading long ago about the switch from KE to HE for anti tank rockets. The allies apparently had decided that KE rockets would be anti-tank and HE rockets would be anti shipping.

As it turns out (and as is mentioned previously), the KE rockets were darned hard to get on target, and only hits counted, whereas a near-miss from a HE rocket could still do some damage.

What was also happening was that the air forces were finding out that the HE rocket wasn't so good at the anti-shipping role either, since short rounds just blew up on hitting the water and didn't damage anything. Someone noticed that if you fired KE rounds at shipping, though, rounds the hit short tended to curve upwards *under* the water and so *could* still hit the vessel, and under the waterline, too! So you ended up with the anti shipping rocket and anti tank rocket switching roles...

I must admit, I found this quite humorous when I read it years ago. As for the veracity of said switch, it's been far too long to remember where I read it, but I suppose it was true enough.

--

[Kevin Peltz]

I have read that a salvo of eight 60pdr rockets fired by a Typhoon was the equivalent of a full broadside fired from a light cruiser- even a couple of hits would be enough to blow apart any tank- if they hit...

[:USERNAME:]

Missed opportunities.

The real answer for the Allies would have been a shaped charge cluster bomb. The germans missed out on this and by the time they realized that big bomb misses are a waste and rockets innaccurate.. it was too late. No more Luftwaffles. They had the technology BTW.

If they had been smart enough they would have won at Kursk or even later. I dont think the Allies ever thought of it. Seems stupid in hindsight. Drop a crap load of little bombs that would be a 2.36inch warhead on a column of tanks and watch the fireworks..

Lewis

[pathfinder]

all the guys above are correct...accuracy of any aerial rocket isn't there, even today. So chances are what you are witnessing are misses.

Also, emember, rockets are unguided. If guided, they become missiles

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unca pathy will show ya the path,

if only he could find it himself!

[ntg84]

The rockets while inaccurate could penetrate if they hit the engine deck of the KT. The engine decks were not very well armored so a rocket could go through it and take out the endgine.

[Steve Snake Driver]

Actually, rockets can be accurately fired from diving aircraft. I've got a 7 or 8 volume set of reprints of a magazine that was published for Allied aircrews during WWII (classified at the time). In one issue, there is an article detailing an on the ground study of aircraft vs armor engagement the day following the attack. (This very early in the Normandy campaign while rockets were still somewhat experimental in the anti armor role). One Panther killed by an HE shot through the rear deck, a MK IV soft kill by becoming bogged/abandoned after trying to go around the dead Panther, and a disabled STUG. This from a flight of aircraft (number not mentioned). It did mention that the gentlemen that got the Panther was a Brit flying a P-47 (British rocket expert on loan).

[Demangel]

Yeah diving planes could to a better degree hit most targets... but the cluster bomb would have been the best choice no matter how you slice it... I would imagine the cluster bomb woulda been fun vs infantry too...