Me 262 should have been used as a bomber?

[Graham Boak]

Although lacking in range for other than Baltic waters, the Il 2 would have been perfectly effective against ships using rockets. The RAF strike wings were converting to rockets rather than torpedos because rockets were at least as effective when they hit, had a greater probability of hitting, and placed the aircraft under less risk from flak. No aircraft can be effective without an appropriate weapon. The Russians had air-to-ground rockets, so it was just a matter of applying their capabilities.

How much flak renders fighter-bombers nugatory is a difficult measure to use. The intense German light flak did not stop the Allied fighterbombers, though may well have biased the weapon of choice to the less accurate (but stand-off) rocket rather than the more effective bomb. Intense light flak also drives to the use of the medium bomber, bombing in the safer environment of medium altitudes.

The Germans no longer had the luxury of choice. The high speed of the 262 would give greater survivability than the 190 jabo, and linked to air-to-ground rockets was probably the only option available with any realistic capability.