Placing the Bell P39 Aircobra.

[Graham Boak]

Yes, gravity drop is one reason for the inaccuracy of rockets. So? No-one is actually arguing the point that they were less accurate. Wind is one reason for the inaccuracy of bombs, and affects rockets less because of the reduced time of flight. Barrel wear is one reason for the inaccuracy of guns, and affects rockets and bombs not at all. Every weapon has its advantages and disadvantages. It is the effect of the overall package that matters.

Less accurate is not the same as ineffectual. There is a spectrum in all things. It is not simply black and white but all shades of grey. Not good- throw a switch- bad but a graduation from poor to even worse. The accuracy/hit probability is but one factor: the kill probability given a hit is another. Surviving to make a second attack is a third. The amount of training required to operate a weapon successfully is another. The cost of the weapon (and platform) is yet another - not just money but manpower and logistics. The rocket rates highly on every count except the first: which is not enough to justify your comments, given the results, which are not to be measured simply in terms of punctured Panzers.

More generally, survivability is a prime factor in weapon choice - else the Army would have been sending 17 pdrs into battle mounted on open lorries.

Incidentally, I've just been reading Firestorm, in which one Typhoon pilot states that he flew lower on rocket attacks than with bombs. I suspect this is not general, but interesting.