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Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
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===Ground attack role=== [[File:Republic P-47D-40-RE in flight firing rockets.jpg|thumb|Republic P-47D-40-RE 44–90386 in flight firing rockets]] The P-47 proved to be a formidable fighter-bomber due to its good armament, heavy bomb load, and ability to survive enemy fire. The P-47's survivability was due in part to its radial piston engine, which unlike comparable liquid-cooled engines, had a high tolerance for damage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hallion |first1=Richard |title=D-Day 1944 – Air Power Over The Normandy Beaches And Beyond |date=August 15, 2014 |publisher=[[Pickle Partners Publishing]] |isbn= 978-1-78289887-0 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7SBwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT4 |access-date=February 10, 2019 |language= en}}</ref> The Thunderbolt's eight .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns were capable against lightly armored targets, although less so than cannon-armed aircraft of the day. In a ground-attack role, the [[Armor-piercing shot and shell|armor-piercing]], armor-piercing incendiary, and armor-piercing incendiary tracer ammunition proved useful in penetrating thin-skinned and lightly armored German vehicles and causing their fuel tanks to explode, as well as occasionally damaging some types of enemy armored fighting vehicles (AFVs).<ref name="Barnes p. 432">Barnes 1989, p. 432.</ref> P-47 pilots frequently carried two {{convert|500|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bombs, using [[skip bombing]] techniques for difficult targets (skipping bombs into railroad tunnels to destroy hidden enemy trains was a favorite tactic).<ref name= "Achtung">"Achtung! Jabos! The Story of the IX TAC." ''Stars & Stripes'', U.S. Army, 1944.</ref> The adoption of the triple-tube M10 rocket launcher<ref>[http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/TM/pdfs/TM9-395.pdf Page 4 illustration of M10 triple-tube launcher], iBiblio.</ref> with M8 high-explosive {{convert |4.5|in|mm|adj=on|abbr=on}} rockets (each with an explosive force similar to a [[M101 howitzer|105 mm artillery]] shell)—much as the RAF's [[Hawker Typhoon]] gained when first fitted with its own two quartets of underwing RP-3 rockets for the same purposes—significantly increased the P-47's ground attack capability.<ref>Dunn, Carle E. (LTC). [http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/aviation/docs/gunsagogo.html "Army Aviation and Firepower".] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081223234821/http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/aviation/docs/gunsagogo.html |date= 2008-12-23}} Army, May 2000. Retrieved 21 November 2009.</ref> Late in the war, the P-47 was retrofitted with more powerful {{convert|5|in|mm|adj=on|abbr=on}} [[High Velocity Aircraft Rocket|HVAR rockets]].
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