Editing Messerschmitt Me 262 (section)

===Anti-bomber tactics===

The Me 262 was so fast that German pilots needed new tactics to attack Allied bombers. In a head-on attack, the combined closing speed of about {{convert|320|m/s|mph|abbr=on}} was too high for accurate shooting with the relatively slow firing 30mm  [[MK 108 cannon]] - at about 650 rounds/min this gave around 44 rounds per second from all four guns. Even from astern, the closing speed was too great to use the short-ranged cannon to maximum effect. A roller-coaster attack was devised, the Me 262s approached from astern and about {{convert|1800|m|ft|adj=mid|higher|abbr=on}} than the bombers. From about {{convert|5|km|mi|adj=mid||abbr=on|spell=in}} behind, they went into a shallow dive that took them through the escort fighters with little risk of interception. When they were about {{convert|1.5|km|mi|adj=mid||abbr=on}} astern and {{convert|450|m|ft|abbr=on}} below the bombers, they pulled up sharply to reduce speed. On levelling off, they were {{convert|1|km|yd|adj=mid||abbr=on|spell=in}} astern and overtaking the bombers at about {{convert|150|km/h|mph|-1|abbr=on}} relative speed, well placed to attack them.{{sfn|Spick|1983|p=112}}

Since the short barrels of the MK 108 cannon and low muzzle velocity - {{convert|540|m/s||abbr=on}} - rendered it inaccurate beyond {{convert|600|m|yd|abbr=on}}, coupled with the jet's velocity, which required breaking off at {{convert|200|m|yd|abbr=on}} to avoid colliding with the target, Me 262 pilots normally commenced firing at {{convert|500|m|yd|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Thompson|Smith|2008|p=233}} Gunners of Allied bomber aircraft found their electrically powered gun turrets had problems tracking the jets. Aiming was difficult because the jets closed into firing range quickly and remained in firing position only briefly, using their standard attack profile, which proved more effective.{{sfn|Hutchinson|2018|p={{page needed|date=October 2022}}}}{{clarify|date=March 2022}}{{vs|date=March 2022}}

[[File:Me 262 with R4M installation.JPG|thumb|Mock-up of an Me 262A-1a/R7 with R4M underwing rocket racks on display at the [[Technikmuseum Speyer]], Germany]]

A prominent Royal Navy test pilot, Captain [[Eric Brown (pilot)|Eric Brown]], chief naval test pilot and commanding officer of the Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]], who tested the Me 262 noted that:

<blockquote>This was a [[Blitzkrieg]] aircraft. You whack in at your bomber. It was never meant to be a [[Dogfight|dogfighter]], it was meant to be a [[Bomber destroyer|destroyer of bombers]]... The great problem with it was it did not have [[Air brake (aircraft)|dive brake]]s. For example, if you want to fight and destroy a B-17, you come in on a dive. The 30mm cannon were not so accurate beyond {{convert|600|m|yd ft||disp=sqbr}}. So you normally came in at {{convert|600|yard|m ft||disp=sqbr}} and would open fire on your B-17. And your closing speed was still high and since you had to break away at {{convert|200|m|yd ft||disp=sqbr}} to avoid a collision, you only had two seconds firing time. Now, in two seconds, you can't sight. You can fire randomly and hope for the best. If you want to sight and fire, you need to double that time to four seconds. And with dive brakes, you could have done that.{{sfn|Thompson|Smith|2008|p=233}}</blockquote>

Eventually, German pilots developed new tactics to counter Allied bombers. Me 262s, equipped with up to 24 unguided folding-fin [[R4M (rocket)|R4M rocket]]s—12 in each of two underwing racks, outboard of the engine nacelles—approached from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest and while still out of range of the bombers' machine guns, fired a [[salvo]] of rockets. One or two hits with these rockets could shoot down even the famously rugged [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]], from the "metal-shattering" brisant effect of the fast-flying rocket's {{convert|520|g|abbr=on}} explosive warhead.{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=101}} The much bigger [[Werfer-Granate 21|BR 21]] large-calibre rockets, fired from their tubular launchers under the nose of the Me 262A (one either side of the nosewheel well) were only as fast as MK 108 rounds.

Though this broadside-attack tactic was effective, it came too late to have a real effect on the war and only small numbers of Me 262s were equipped with the rocket packs; most were Me 262A-1a models, of [[Jagdgeschwader 7|''Jagdgeschwader'' 7]].{{sfn|Stapfer|2006|pp=33–35}} This method of attacking bombers became the standard and mass deployment of [[Ruhrstahl X-4]] guided missiles was cancelled. Some nicknamed this tactic the Luftwaffe's [[Wolfpack (naval tactic)|Wolf Pack]]{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}, as the fighters often made runs in groups of two or three, fired their rockets, then returned to base. On 1 September 1944, USAAF [[General]] [[Carl Spaatz]] expressed the fear that if greater numbers of German jets appeared, they could inflict losses heavy enough to force cancellation of the [[Combined Bomber Offensive|Allied bombing offensive]] by daylight.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}