A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide

greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's
trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughout the bomb run. This allows
attacks on point targets and ships, which were difficult to attack with conventional "level"
bombers, even en-masse.
A dive bomber dives at a steep angle, normally between 45 and 70 degrees, and thus
requires an abrupt pull-up after dropping its bombs. This puts great strains on both pilot
and aircraft. It demands an aircraft of strong construction, with some means to slow its
dive. This limited the class to light bomber designs with ordnance loads in the range of
1,000 lb (450 kg). The most famous examples are the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, which was
widely used during the opening stages of the war, theAichi D3A "Val" dive bomber, which
sank more Allied warships during World War II than any other Axis aircraft,[1][2][3] and
theDouglas SBD Dauntless, which sank more Japanese shipping than any other allied
aircraft type.[4] The SBD Dauntless was also famous as the plane that won the Battle of
Midway, and was also instrumental in the victory at the Battle of the Coral Sea, and fought
in every US battle involving carrier aircraft.[5][6]

Final assembly view of SBD Dauntless dive bombers in 1943 at theDouglas Aircraft Company plant in El
Segundo, California. The dive brakesare visible behind the wings.[7]

A second and simpler technique is to bomb from a shallow dive angle, sometimes referred
to as glide bombing. This reduces the accuracy, but still allows line of sight to the target
during the bomb run. TheJunkers Ju 88 and Petlyakov Pe-2 were widely used in this role.
The Heinkel He 177 is often mentioned as having its development upset by the demand
that it be able to dive bomb, although this actually referred to glide bombing. The phrase
"glide bombing" should not be confused with the term glide bomb, where the bomb glides
towards its target while the aircraft remains in level flight. Attachments for this type of
bombing were fitted to the Norden bombsight, but in practice this proved unworkable.
Dive bombing was most widely used before and during World War II; its use declined
during the war, when its vulnerability to enemy fighters became apparent. In the post-war
era, this role replaced with a combination of improved and automatedbombsights, larger
weapons and even nuclear warheads that greatly reduced the need for accuracy, and
finally by precision guided weapons as they became available in the 1960s. Most tactical
aircraft today allow bombing in shallow dives to keep the target visible, but true dive
bombers have not been a part of military forces since the start of the jet age.