Should the Me262 been used exclusively as a jabo ....

[Leo Etgen]

Hello Geoff

Thank you for your reply. Here are another pair of excerpts from The Warplanes of the Third Reich that deal briefly with the suitability of the Me 262 as a fighter-bomber.

"Although the externally-mounted bombs reduced the speed of the Me 262 A-2a en route to its target to the extent that it could be intercepted by conventional fighters, the high speeds attained by the Sturmvogel during the diving attack itself enabled it to fulfill its mission in complete Allied air superiority. Bombing results were as accurate as those achieved with the Fw 190, but one disadvantage of the Me 262 A-2a was that its high speed rendered identification of very small targets virtually impossible. The usual practice was to approach the target in level flight until it disappeared from sight under the port or starboard turbojet, and then commence the diving attack."

"Some attempt was made to employ the Me 262 for ground strafing missions but the aircraft was poorly suited for this role. The MK 108 cannon had so low a muzzle velocity that the attack had to be made from an altitude of 1,300 ft. or less for accuracy, and the 360 rounds of ammunition carried were inadequate for the amount of target area that could be covered by a fast-moving Me 262A."

I hope that you find this information interesting as well.

Horrido!

Leo