Late '30s British bomber-killer options?

anon_user

Assume that the Luftwaffe chooses to extensively develop heavy bombers - starting with Ju 89s, but moving onto a four-engine He 177, which with less developmental troubles might be able to enter service around 1939. Obviously, they'll be making a number of sacrifices to do so... but I'm more interested right now in the RAF's response.

Would the RAF go with a cannon-armed bomber-killer, or would they think that four or eight .303" MGs would be enough?
If the RAF were to go for a cannon-armed bomber-killer, what would it look like? How would it be powered and armed?
 

tchizek

Either that or move to 4x20mm on the Hurricane and Spitfire sooner. That was the armament that the RAF thought was right for bomber-killers.
 

Geredis

Yeah, I see 20mm Hurricanes/Spitfires as becoming common - maybe two or three cannon though - I can't see the RAF trading out its guns for a majority of cannon if it can help it. So one using an interruptor gear mounted over the engine, and one for each wing.

I also imagine the British might start looking at larger cannons in short order - maybe 25mm in the immediate aftermath of the Battle for France if things are drawn out longer in this campaign, and the Germans put an emphasis on bombing Paris into submission. Failing that, the aftermath of the Battle of Britain will likely get them to upgrade their guns no matter what happens.
 

DD951

Well, the Westland Whirlwind was supposed to be the RAF's cannon-armed bomber destroyer, but it was let down by crappy engines, & by the time it entered squadron service, the RAF was starting to put cannon into Spitfires & Hurricanes, while the Beaufighter was being developed as the radar-armed night-fighter. Furthermore, the Whirlwind had a very short range, poor altitude capability, & low payload in operational service (partly due to the engines & partly due to being small- about the size of a Hurricane.)

Had better engines, such as Merlins been fitted from the start, or the design developed in a more powerful, higher-climbing longer-ranged way (e.g. the Welkin a couple years ahead of OTL,) it'd most likely be the RAF's desiginated bomber-killer to counter a German heavy-bomber force, at least in theory.
 

The BigI

Wasn't part of the reason that the hurri and spits werent armed with canons was beacsue they couldnt fit the hispano cannons in their wings. It was fixed in later models though.
 

Just Leo

I don't see any hasty reaction to a change from OTL. The reliance on .303 cal weapons was a mistake for twin-engined bombers, and the reaction to adopt the Hisso was one requiring some modifications which couldn't be rushed more. Aircraft that used the Hisso cannon unmodified, such as the Whirlwind, received low priority, or were forgotten. While it may be a popular idea to cram multiple cannons in Hurricanes, doing so would render a Hurri dead meat for any enemy fighter encountered, as heavily armed and armored German fighters were during the later years.
 

Astrodragon

Logical response is build more Whirlwinds which dont have the cannon mounting problems. The RAF already knew 4 cannons was the best solution.
Nothing wrong with the Peregrine engine, it just got put aside to concentrate on the Merlin. Dont know if you can squeeze 2 Merlins onto a Whirlwind( but if you couldm it would go like a bat out of hell, nothing else was even close at the time...)
 

Sior

Banned
14.jpg

Maybe this would have got off the drawing board.
 

merlin

If the Lw had gone the strategic bomber route i.e. Do-19 or Ju-89, through to an earlier He-177 (with 4 separate engines), then seems unlikely the RAF wouldn't know about it, before hand. Indeed, it's likely the Lw would be boasting about it.
Yes, Westland would be under more pressure to get production up to speed, and RR to provide the engines, it had longer range than the other interceptors.
Quite possible the Boulton-Paul (Dante) P.88a and/or P.88b (Hercules or Vulture) 4 x 20mm fighter, may have been produced - in OTL the Treasury would only finance the Westland prototypes.
And perhaps as a back-up the Gloster G.39 with 2 x 20mm cannon & mgs.
With the B-P Dante paving the way for cannons in the wings, then some versions for the Hurricane & Spitfie may emerge earlier - and work!!
 
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