Was out on Combat Box a couple of weeks ago now with the Kerch straight scenario in operation. That seemed like a good occasion to take out the Bf110G-2, an aircraft that I have quite a bit of experience with but not recently, and see if we could take out some ground targets. Flying as a fighter bomber, or a Jagdbomber or just “Jabo” as it was called, is pretty risky business in a high density online server. As you’ll see…

Industrial attack

Our first mission saw us set out across the Kerch straight and over to the Taman Peninsula where the server had a series of targets setup. Artillery positions were popular but we decided we’d try and get one of the industrial sites setup within Taman itself.

Setting out, we climbed up to just under the cloud height (around 2,200 meters) and flew towards the target zone. The first part of our flight went smoothly with fighters on our team reporting heavy enemy contact over Kerch. We hoped that would keep the action at little further north than we planned to be.

As we crossed the straight, you could see the swarm of aircraft over the Kerch harbor off to our left. Ahead we could see our the industrial target area that we intended to strike. The skies appeared clear but that was about to change rather quickly!

Our gunners warned us of an attacking fighter and we began to weave back and forth. We evaded the first attacking Yak but soon the sky would fill. Our two bomb-laden Bf110s versus a half dozen Yaks, P-39s and P-40s. We pressed on with our gunners warning us of enemy contact. We both took hits but were still able to fly and so we dove for the target zone.

Over the target the swarm coalesced. But not before we were able to drop our pair of 500kg bombs straight on the target. Flak, tracer, and a mess of aircraft dotted the skies.

As it turned out, we destroyed the primary target in that first pass. But only just before before my flight leader succumbed to the attacking fighters – having already lost part of his flaps and controls.

I was next on the hit list, already trailing fuel, I stayed close to the ground hoping to drive them off. And for a few moments it was working as the cluster of fighters behind began to interfere with each other. But one of them got off a shot and it exploded my Bf110. We hit the target, but our attrition was high.

The two’fer!

Undeterred, we set out on a second mission once again hugging the coast but this time focusing our attention first on the southern coast and an artillery position there.

Things went well this time! We made three passes on the artillery taking out the target completely. A success!

The flight lead still had both SC500s so we went back to the munitions facility that we hit on the first sortie. Annnnd that’s when the swarm descended again. As we approached the target at low altitude our gunners started firing back at the trailing fighters. Lead managed to drop both bombs and that took out the last remaining target structure as I tried to draw fire from enemy fighters.

A P-40 pulled in behind the other Bf110 and I turned to fire but I was already too late. A hail of .50cal hit his plane, killing the pilot and sending it crashing into the ground. I pulled lead and tried to fire on the P-40 but that’s when the rest of the swarm descended and a Yak exploded my Bf110. Two sorties… two explosions. But also… two targets destroyed.

One more…

There was time in the night to fly one more sortie so we decided that we’d try and wipe out another target before we called it quits. Another mission and another artillery battery along the coast to attack although this time we were keen to switch it up a bit so we moved to the northern coast, about 30-40 kilometers from where were striking before. This time I was in the lead.

We took a slightly circuitous route and came in from the northern approach. That kept us away from the perpetual dogfight over Kerch harbour and let us strike the artillery unimpeded.

I moved to attack first but the flak was quicker unleashing a hail of bullets and hitting my Bf110 in the nose, in the port side fuel tank and in the opposite wing. I pressed on and dropped both bombs on target. My wingman did the same as the flak fired back.

Large explosions took out most of the artillery. We turned back in to finish the job!

As I turned towards the target again I was hit by a passing Yak who fired a couple of bursts but was shaken off by my defensive turns and rear gunner. Meanwhile, my wingman was laying into the target with guns, destroying more of the target area. Unfortunately, he also drew some attention from a Spitfire that fired on him, taking out a control cable and sending his Bf110 into some nearby trees. Oof!

I made a final pass on the target area destroying a flak gun and then decided I should make a run for home.

A P-39 lined up behind me, peppering me with .30 cal wing gun fire but was unable to land a more damaging shot with the 37mm. A Spitfire would join in firing .303s all over the sky but seemingly unable to connect a more damaging blow. Both would beak off having been peppered by my rear gunners fire in return.

Despite battle damage and interception, this time I coaxed my Bf110 back across the straight and into home base. Trailing fuel the whole way, I thought for sure I’d be spotted by still more enemy fighters but I was able to make it back more or less unscathed. Phew!

Losses high, still a success

Though we lost quite a few aircraft in our three missions, we also eliminated three target zones with just the two of us. A third target, the Soviet Flotilla target, was eliminated by other players on our team around the same time making for a successful evening on thew hole.

Flying as a fighter-bomber, or a Jabo or strike fighter or whatever term you want to assign can be quite a hazardous task in the world of an online combat flight simulator. Much as it was in history. Flak and enemy fighters make it difficult to get to target and then make it home again. Despite that, these aircraft can be quite effective and an airplane like the Bf110G-2 has quite a bit of firepower and agility to make a concerted effort versus the opposition. More importantly, despite the setbacks, we had fun and felt like we were making an impact in the back and forth of the online battle.

If you’ve been flying purely as a fighter jockey all this time, these are the kinds of missions you can fly to help mix things up. You may not always survive them but you can have an outsized impact. Whatever you do, have fun with it!