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 Ribon Fox wrote:
But you can't have a ship up there all the time, the Navy still has other jobs to do, so thats where bombers are still needed.

The Navy will always be involved in a planetary invasion.

I think the closest you'll find is the Marauder Colossus - a high altitude strategic bomber typically carrying a single 10,000kg colossus bomb.

I've got one for my Imperial Navy force for Aeronautica Imperialis.

 PhillyT wrote:
Fluff and table top seem to show that orbital strikes are fairly accurate. Probably on the level of our modern laser guided bombings.

Heck, look at the chapter master orbital bombardment.

Current day missiles hit with <1m precision, they don't use laser though because that's just dumb.

We do have 'em. Or at least, Phantine Bomber Command does. They're called Behemoths, and apparently being hit can blow up aircraft near them.

 Ribon Fox wrote:
But you can't have a ship up there all the time, the Navy still has other jobs to do, so thats where bombers are still needed.

Especially if the Imperials lose dominance in space.

More to the point, I'd expect bombers to exist still because the IG and Navy are two separate organizations. Inevitably, at some point the IG will need to hit a target that the Navy can't- either because of shielding, active defenses (lasers for hitting ships in space), or an enemy fleet that takes higher priority.

Especially in the first wave of an attack on a planet, say when there are still ground-based defenses to ward off orbital bombardments, a bomber big enough to take out a dam or other power supply that is able to avoid weapons that are for shooting down space ships would be valuable. ESPECIALLY if it reports to the Guard commander, rather than the Navy commander.

See how the Army and Air Force in the US interact over the A-10 and CAS. The Navy and Guard would have the same problems... only worse, because GrimDark and Imperium.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Deadshot wrote:

 Ribon Fox wrote:
But you can't have a ship up there all the time, the Navy still has other jobs to do, so thats where bombers are still needed.

The Navy will always be involved in a planetary invasion.

... unless an opposing fleet blows it out of the sky.

One instance where such a machine might have been of great use would be the battle of Tarsis Ultra. Cluster-munitions would have helped a lot.

Except that no fliers officially report to the Guard.

At all.

Even the Elysians' Valkyries which stick with the regiment rather than a ship are still under the purview of the Navy.

There is no human 'Air Force' in the Imperium. Just the Army and the Navy. Aircraft are all part of the Fleet Air Arm.

The Imperium's 'Air Force' are the Space Marines.

Startigic Bomber are probebly used, it's just that they would be ard to represent in-game, and they would onl really be used if the planet's space-space(?) was being contested.

 EmpNortonII wrote:

 Ribon Fox wrote:
But you can't have a ship up there all the time, the Navy still has other jobs to do, so thats where bombers are still needed.

Especially if the Imperials lose dominance in space.

More to the point, I'd expect bombers to exist still because the IG and Navy are two separate organizations. Inevitably, at some point the IG will need to hit a target that the Navy can't- either because of shielding, active defenses (lasers for hitting ships in space), or an enemy fleet that takes higher priority.

Especially in the first wave of an attack on a planet, say when there are still ground-based defenses to ward off orbital bombardments, a bomber big enough to take out a dam or other power supply that is able to avoid weapons that are for shooting down space ships would be valuable. ESPECIALLY if it reports to the Guard commander, rather than the Navy commander.

See how the Army and Air Force in the US interact over the A-10 and CAS. The Navy and Guard would have the same problems... only worse, because GrimDark and Imperium.

Others have covered this, but I'd like to stress it.

the Imperial Guard are FORBIDDEN by Imperial law that has stood since the Heresy from having air and space craft. And likewise, the Navy is FORBIDDEN from having ground forces.

This is so that, in the event of a rebellion, you'd have to have multiple sections of both branches defect in order for the rebels to have both ships and an army.


And so, all ground forces(ground being taken literally) do not have any air units under their command. And Navel forces don't have any ground forces under their command.

I believe Chaos has one, the Harbinger.

Supposedly a truly massive bomber.


As for the Imperium, the niche is sufficiently covered by standard bombers and orbital strikes.

Not sure if this has been noted yet but....

The Imperium has no real need for a strategic bomber. There's really no such thing as "unacceptable collateral damage" in the Imperium.

They would need one if they didn't control the space above the planet.

If they dont control the space above the planet, then your aeroplanes are so many ducks in a shooting gallery for whoever *does* have space superiority.

Not necessarily. If it is just contested (the ships are fighting and don't have time to focus on the area below) than they would be relatively safe. And it all depends on how accurate the sips are from that distance (and how good the scanning equipment is).

If an Orbital Bombardment has a better-than-50% chance of not hitting the guy calling for it on a battlefield, I'd say the scanning equipment is pretty damn good.

This also comes back to the point that they'd be Imperial Navy vessels anyway, and so would be deployed from a ship in orbit, unless this world happened to be a Naval shipyard or the Mechanicus Forge World where they were built.

Fair enough, but it all depends on the fight is going on. It's a bit like saying that every problem that can be solved with bombs can be solved with nukes instead. Technically true, but not the best solution

In 40K, there is absolutely no such thing as "too much dakka".