[bearoutwest]

Thank you Gary & Leo for confirming a vague memory of what I'd previously read.

As I understand it, the immediate problem was with the small numbers of jet bombers or jabos (if you prefer) involved, was that it allowed the Allies to swamp them with defensive fire and/or interceptors. This forced the jets to keep their speeds up and reduced their bombing effectiveness. I guess a larger number of jets in each attack would have reduced the ability of the defenses to concentrate their fire; but the jets still would have had to slow down to bomb accurately. Then their effectiveness would have been similar to the hordes of Typhoons and Thunderbolts flying into 20/30/37/40mm flak to attack the tank columns - better accuracy of bomb delivery (I am staying away from any heated discussions on rocket effectiveness) but heavier losses.

The extract from Leo's copy of "Warplanes of the Third Reich" (if reasonably accurate) would indicate that the high speed of the jets allowed for relatively safe approach to and egress from the target area, and appears to have helped in keeping away from the defensive fighters.

The lack of hits on the bridge would summize that high-speed/low-level jet raids got them to the target but didn't make them any more effective in hitting the target. If the Ar 234 raids were from medium-altitudes using the auto-pilot/bomb-site, then their bombing accuracy would also seem to be ineffective.