Editing Dive bomber (section)

== Method ==
A dive bomber dives at a steep angle, normally between 45 and 60 degrees or even up to a near vertical dive of 80 degrees with the [[Junkers Ju 87]], and thus requires an abrupt pull-up after dropping its bombs. This puts great strains on both the pilot and aircraft. It demands an aircraft of strong construction, with some means to slow its dive. This limited the class to [[light bomber]] designs with ordnance loads in the range of {{convert|1000|lb|abbr=on}} although there were larger examples. The most famous examples are the [[Junkers Ju 87|Junkers Ju 87 ''Stuka'']], which was widely used during the opening stages of [[World War II]], the [[Aichi D3A]] ''"Val"'' dive bomber, which sank more [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] warships during the war than any other [[axis powers|Axis]] aircraft,<ref>Angelucci and Matricasrdi p. 142</ref><ref>Casey p. 87</ref><ref>Worth p. 170</ref> and the [[Douglas SBD Dauntless]], which sank more Japanese shipping than any other allied aircraft type.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalww2museum.org/us-freedom-pavilion-the-boeing-center/douglas-sbd-dauntless.html|title=Douglas SBD Dauntless – The National WWII Museum – New Orleans|website=The National WWII Museum – New Orleans}}</ref> The SBD Dauntless helped win the [[Battle of Midway]], was instrumental in the victory at the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]], and fought in every US battle involving carrier aircraft.<ref>Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II,'' pp. 25–28, Cypress, California, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}.</ref><ref>Klein, Maury. ''A Call to Arms: Mobilizing America for World War II,'' p. 460, Bloomsbury Press, New York, New York, 2013. {{ISBN|978-1-59691-607-4}}.</ref>

[[File:SBD Dauntless El Segundo.JPG|thumb|left|Final assembly view of [[Douglas SBD Dauntless|SBD Dauntless]] dive bombers in 1943 at the [[Douglas Aircraft Company]] plant in [[El Segundo, California]]. The [[dive brakes]] are visible behind the wings.<ref>Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II,'' pp. 28, 34, Cypress, California, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}.</ref>]]

An alternative technique, glide-bombing, allowed the use of heavier aircraft, which faced far greater difficulties in recovering from near-vertical approaches, though it required greater use of sophisticated bombsights and aiming techniques, by a specialised member of aircrews, namely a [[bombardier/bomb aimer]].  The crews of multi-engined dive-bombers, such as variants of the [[Junkers Ju 88]] and [[Petlyakov Pe-2]], frequently used this technique. The heaviest aircraft to have dive-bombing included in its design and development, the twin engine [[Heinkel He 177]], also utilised a glide-bombing approach; the requirement that the He 177 be able to dive/glide-bomb delayed its development and impaired its overall performance.

Dive bombing was most widely used before and during World War II; its use declined during the war, when its vulnerability to enemy fighters became apparent. In the post-war era, this role was replaced with a combination of improved and automated [[bombsight]]s, larger weapons and even [[nuclear warhead]]s that greatly reduced the need for accuracy, and finally by [[precision guided weapon]]s as they became available in the 1960s. Most [[Tactical bombing|tactical aircraft]] today allow bombing in shallow dives to keep the target visible, but true dive bombers have not been a part of military forces since the start of the jet age.