This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2010)

The B-17 Flying Fortress is a heavy bomber from World War II.

A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.

Classification[link]

A Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber.

Strategic[link]

Strategic bombing are heavy bombers primarily designed for long-range bombing missions against strategic targets such as supply bases, bridges, factories, shipyards, and cities themselves, in order to damage an enemy's war effort. Current examples include the strategic nuclear-armed strategic bombers: B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress, Tupolev Tu-95 'Bear', Tupolev Tu-22M 'Backfire'; historically notable examples are the: Gotha G, Avro Lancaster, Heinkel He-111, Junkers Ju 88, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, B-29 Superfortress, and Tupolev Tu-16 'Badger'.

Tactical[link]

Tactical bombing , aimed at enemy military units and installations, is typically assigned to smaller aircraft operating at shorter ranges, typically along the troops on the ground or sea. This role is filled by various aircraft tactical bomber classes, as different as light bombers, medium bombers, dive bombers, interdictors, fighter-bombers, ground-attack aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, among others. Current examples: F-15E Strike Eagle, F/A-18 Hornet, Sukhoi Su-34 'Fullback', Chengdu J-10, Xian JH-7, Dassault-Breguet Mirage 2000, and the Panavia Tornado; historical examples: Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik, Heinkel He 111, Dornier Do 17, Dornier Do 215, Junkers Ju 88, Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, P-47 Thunderbolt, Hawker Typhoon, and F-4 Phantom II.

History[link]

Caproni Ca.32, Italian heavy bomber of World War I

The first two-engined bomber, the British Handley Page Type O

1911–1939[link]

The first use of an air-dropped bomb was carried out by the Italians, initially by Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti,^[1] in their 1911 war for Libya. In 1912 Bulgarian Air Force pilot Christo Toprakchiev suggested the use of airplanes to drop "bombs" (as grenades were called in the Bulgarian army at this time) on Turkish positions. Captain Simeon Petrov developed the idea and created several prototypes by adapting different types of grenades and increasing their payload.^[2] On October 16, 1912, observer Prodan Tarakchiev dropped two of those bombs on the Turkish railway station of Karaagac (near the besieged Edirne) from an Albatros F.II airplane piloted by Radul Milkov.

After a number of tests Petrov created the final design, with improved aerodynamics, an X-shaped tail and impact detonator. This version was widely used by the Bulgarian Air Force during the siege of Edirne. Later a copy of the plans was sold to Germany and the bomb, codenamed "Chathaldza" ("Чаталджа", after the strategic Turkish town of Çatalca) remained in mass production until the end of World War I.

The weight of the bomb was 6 kilograms (13 lb); on impact it created a crater 4–5 metres (13–16 ft) wide and about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) deep.

E. Mark cites Caproni Ca 30 and Bristol TB.8, both of 1913, as one of the first of heavier-than-air aircraft purposely designed for bombing.^[3]

During World War I, the Germans used Zeppelins as bombers since they had the range and capacity to carry a useful bomb load from Germany to England. With advances in aircraft design and equipment, they were joined by larger multi-engined biplane aircraft on both sides for long range strategic bombing especially by night. The majority of bombing was still done by one-engined biplanes with one or two crew-members flying short distances to attack the enemy lines and immediate hinterland.

The world's first four-engined bomber was the Russian Il'ya Muromets created in 1914 and successfully used in World War I.

World War II[link]

United States Navy SBD Dauntless dive bomber

During World War II bombers often looked dramatically different from other aircraft. Because of the lack of power in aircraft engines at the time, bombers needed to have multiple engines in order to carry a reasonable load, in turn leading to much larger aircraft.

A Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber

With engine power as a major limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors, bomber designs tended to be tailored to one particular role. By the start of the war this included

• dive bomber
• light bomber, medium bomber and heavy bomber
• torpedo bomber
• interdictors
• specialized ground attack aircraft designs

Bombers are not intended to actively engage in combat with other aircraft. The majority have been relatively large and unmaneuverable – although some smaller designs have been used as the basis for specialist fighters, such as night fighters.

Cold War[link]

A B-58 Hustler Mach 2 capable supersonic bomber

US Navy F-14 Tomcat escorts Tu-95 Bear D during 1985 NATO exercise Ocean Safari

At the start of the Cold War, bombers were the only means to take nuclear weapons to enemy targets, and had the role of deterrence. With the advent of guided air to air missiles, bombers needed to avoid interception. High speed and high altitude flying became a means of evading detection and attack. Designs such as the English Electric Canberra could fly faster or higher than contemporary fighters. When surface to air missiles became capable of hitting high flying aircraft bombers, bombers used flight at low altitude to evade radar detection.

Once "stand off" nuclear weapon designs were developed, bombers did not need to pass over the target at high altitude to make an attack; they could fire and turn away to escape the blast. Nuclear strike aircraft were generally finished in bare metal or anti-flash white to avoid any flash damage.

The need to drop conventional bombs remained in conflicts with a non-nuclear powers, such as the Vietnam War or Malayan Emergency.

The development of large strategic bombers stagnated in the later part of the Cold War because of spiraling costs and the development of the Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – which was felt to have equal deterrent value while being much more difficult to intercept. Because of this, the United States Air Force XB-70 Valkyrie program was cancelled in the early 1960s; the later B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit aircraft entered service only after protracted political and development problems. Their high cost meant that few were built and the 1950s-designed B-52s continued in use into the 21st century. Similarly, the Soviet Union used the intermediate-range Tu-22M 'Backfire'in the 1970s, but their Mach 3 bomber project came to naught. The Mach 2 Tu-160 'Blackjack' was built only in tiny numbers, leaving the 1950s Tupolev Tu-16 and Tu-95 'Bear' heavy bombers to continue being used into the 21st century.

The Avro Vulcan was part of the RAF V bomber force

The British strategic bombing force largely came to an end when the V bomber force was phased out; the last of which left service in 1983. The French Mirage IV bomber version was retired in 1996, although the Mirage 2000N and the Rafale have a taken on this role. The only other nation that fields strategic bombing forces is the People's Republic of China, which has a number of Xian H-6s.

Modern era[link]

Transferring a 2,000 pound JDAM to a lift truck for loading onto a B-1B Lancer supersonic strategic bomber in Southwest Asia in 2007.

In modern air forces, the distinction between bombers, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft has become blurred. Many attack aircraft, even ones that look like fighters, are optimized to drop bombs, with very little ability to engage in aerial combat. Indeed, the design qualities that make an effective low-level attack aircraft make for a distinctly inferior air superiority fighter, and vice versa. Conversely, many fighter aircraft, such as the F-16, are often used as 'bomb trucks,' despite being designed for aerial combat. Perhaps the one meaningful distinction at present is the question of range: a bomber is generally a long-range aircraft capable of striking targets deep within enemy territory, whereas fighter bombers and attack aircraft are limited to 'theater' missions in and around the immediate area of battlefield combat. Even that distinction is muddied by the availability of aerial refueling, which greatly increases the potential radius of combat operations.

Plans in the U.S. and Russia for successors to the current strategic bomber force remain only paper projects, and political and funding pressures suggest that they are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. In the U.S., current plans call for the existing USAF bomber fleet to remain in service until the mid-to-late 2020s, with the first possible replacements becoming operational in 2018.^[4] After this bomber the U.S. is also thinking of another bomber in 2037. The 2018 bomber will be made in small quantities as it will be a transition aircraft for this 2037 bomber. The 2018 bomber was, however, required to provide an answer to the fifth generation defense systems (such as SA-21 Growlers, bistatic radar and Active Electronically Scanned Array radar). Also, it was chosen to be able to stand strong against rising superpowers (China, India) and other countries with semi-advanced military capability (Iran). Finally, a third reason was long-term air support for areas with a low threat level (Iraq, Afghanistan). The latter was referred to as close air support for the global war on terror (CAS for GWOT). The 2018 bomber would thus be able to stay for extended periods on a same location (called persistence).^[5] Also, the 2018 bomber and later bombers could be automated.

See also[link]

Look up bomber in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Carpet bombing
• Strategic bomber
• Aerial bombing of cities
• Aerial interdiction
• Offensive counter air
• Fighter

References[link]

Richard Cottrell (born 15 August 1936) is an English theatre director. He has been the Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company and the Bristol Old Vic in England, and of the Nimrod Theatre in Sydney, Australia. He has also directed for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Chichester Festival, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, the National Theatre of Portugal, and other theatre companies around the world.

Cottrell is also a translator of plays, and an author of a book on art appreciation.

Career[link]

Cottrell was born 15 August 1936, in London. He attended Cambridge University, and trained as an actor in Paris.^[1]

Work in Britain[link]

From 1964 to 1966 Cottrell was General Manager of the Hampstead Theatre Club. The first play he directed there was Georges Feydeau's The Birdwatcher, with Michael Bates and Prunella Scales.^[1]

From 1966 to 1969, Cottrell was co-founder and Associate Director of the Prospect Theatre Company in Oxford.^[2] His work for Prospect included works by Anouilh, Pinter, and Feydeau. His production of Farquhar's The Constant Couple, with Robert Hardy and Timothy West, transferred to the New Theatre in London. Cottrell's own translation of The Cherry Orchard, starring Lila Kedrova and Patrick Wymark, transferred to the Queen's Theatre in London in 1967. Cottrell was instrumental in the career of Ian McKellen, inviting him to star in, and directing him in, his acclaimed Richard II in 1969.^[3]

Cottrell translated Georges Feydeau for the Prospect Company, and, with Lance Sieveking, adapted E. M. Forster's Howards End and A Room With A View. With Edward Bond, Cottrell translated Three Sisters for the Royal Court Theatre.

From 1969 to 1975, Cottrell was Director of the newly formed Cambridge Theatre Company. There, in 1970 he directed his own translation of The Seagull, with Lila Kedrova as Madame Arkadina. In 1974 he directed the young Ian Charleson as Hamlet.

From 1975 to 1980, Cottrell was Director of the Bristol Old Vic Company, where his notable productions included The National Health, Hedda Gabler, As You Like It, A Doll's House, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Move to Australia[link]

Cottrell became a resident of Australia in 1984. From 1985 to 1987, he was Director of the Nimrod Theatre Company in Sydney. He received a Sydney Critics Award for his first season, in which a permanent company of 16 actors played a season of classical plays in repertoire. His work at Nimrod included The Winter's Tale, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, All's Well That Ends Well, Wild Honey, The Merchant of Venice, and Arms and the Man.^[4]

For the Sydney Theatre Company, Cottrell has directed Lettice and Lovage and Vita and Virginia, both starring Ruth Cracknell. For the National Institute of Dramatic Art, he directed his own specially commissioned translation of Racine's Britannicus in 1992. For the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, he has directed When the Wind Blows; and for the Marian Street Theatre Company in Sydney he directed Benefactors, Prin, Henceforward..., Neville's Island, and Things We Do for Love.

Cottrell's work in Britain in the 1990s included The Rivals at the Chichester Festival and in the West End; The School for Scandal, Lady Windermere's Fan, also at Chichester; and Three Hours After Marriage for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Cottrell's recent productions include Ying Tong, A Walk with the Goons, and Travesties for the Sydney Theatre Company. He has directed King Lear for the National Theatre of Portugal in Lisbon, The Uneasy Chair for Playwrights Horizons in New York, and Simone de Beauvoir's The Woman Destroyed at 59E59 in New York.^[4]

Cottrell has done opera directing as well. For the Victorian State Opera he directed Andrea Chenier, for which he won a Victorian Green Room Award for Best Opera Production of the Year, and Tannhauser. For the Opera Theatre of St. Louis he has directed The Merry Widow.

Teaching[link]

Cottrell has taught and directed at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, the Hong Kong College of the Performing Arts, Boston University, the University of California, the Juilliard School in New York, and all of Australia's leading theatre schools.^[4]

Major directing credits[link]

• The Birdwatcher, Hampstead Theatre Club, London, 1966
• Thieves' Carnival, Prospect Theatre Company, UK cities, 1966
• The Constant Couple, Prospect Theatre Company, UK cities, 1967
• The Cherry Orchard, Prospect Theatre Company, UK cities, 1967
• The Birthday Party, Prospect Theatre Company, UK cities, 1967
• Blithe Spirit, Prospect Theatre Company, Lincoln, UK, 1967
• The Promise, Prospect Theatre Company, Leicester, UK, 1968
• Richard II, Volkstheatre, Vienna, 1969
• Staircase, Prospect Theatre Company, UK cities, 1969
• Richard II, Prospect Theatre Company, UK cities, 1969
• The Alchemist, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1970
• Semi-Detached, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1970
• The Seagull, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1970
• The Recruiting Officer, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1970
• Chips with Everything, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1970
• Hay Fever, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1971
• Three Sisters, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1971
• Trelawny of the Wells, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1971
• You and Your Clouds, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1972
• Popkiss, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1972
• Ruling the Roost, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1972
• Twelfth Night, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1973
• Aunt Sally or the Triumph of Death, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1973
• Jack and the Beanstalk, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1973
• French Without Tears, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1974
• Hamlet, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1974
• Six Characters in Search of an Author, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1974
• Bloomsbury, Cambridge Theatre, London, 1974
• Entertaining Mr Sloane, Cambridge Theatre Company, UK cities, 1975
• A Far Better Husband, UK cities, 1975
• The National Health, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, Bristol, U.K., 1975
• Hard Times, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, Bristol, U.K., 1975
• Macbeth, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1976
• Evening Light, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1976
• Le Weekend, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1976
• Evening Light, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1976
• The Duchess of Malfi, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1976
• Aladdin, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1976
• Love's Labour's Lost, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1977
• Hamlet, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1977
• Hedda Gabler, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1977
• She Stoops to Conquer, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, 1977.
• The Provok'd Wife, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1978
• The Seagull, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1978
• Cabaret, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1978
• As You Like It, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1978
• The Man Who Came to Dinner, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1978
• Destiny, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1979
• Troilus and Cressida, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, then Edinburgh Festival, both 1979
• A Bee in Her Bonnet, Manitoba Theatre Centre, 1979
• Waiting for the Parade, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London, 1979.
• A Midsummer Night's Dream Bristol Old Vic Theatre, London, 1980
• Edward II, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1980
• Illuminations, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, 1980
• Cyrano de Bergerac, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee, WI, 1980
• Betrayal, UK and European cities, 1981
• The Revenger's Tragedy, Adelaide, Australia, 1981
• Camino Real, Sydney, Australia, 1982
• The Taming of the Shrew, Mid-East cities, 1982
• The Taming of the Shrew, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong, 1982
• All's Well That Ends Well, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, ON, Canada, 1982.
• Uncle Vanya, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, 1983
• Richard II, Stratford Shakespearean Festival, 1983
• The Country Wife, Stratford Shakespearean Festival, 1983
• A Doll's House, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 1984
• Widower's Houses, RADA, London, 1988
• Don's Party, Australia, 1984
• Pack of Lies, Brisbane, Australia, 1985
• When the Wind Blows, Sydney, 1985
• Arms and the Man, Nimrod Theatre Company, Sydney, 1985
• Benefactors, Nimrod Theatre Company, Sydney, 1986
• Wild Honey, Nimrod Theatre Company, Sydney, 1986
• The Merchant of Venice, Nimrod Theatre Company, Sydney, 1986
• All's Well That Ends Well, Nimrod Theatre Company, Sydney, 1986
• The Winter's Tale Nimrod Theatre Company, Sydney, 1987
• Les Liaisons dangereuses, Nimrod Theatre Company, Sydney, 1987
• Andrea Chenier, Victorian State Opera, Melbourne, Australia, 1988
• Strike Up the Banns, Theatre Clywdd, Wales, 1988
• The Rivals, Chichester Festival Theatre, 1994
• The School for Scandal, Chichester Festival Theatre, 1995; Theatre Royal, Bath, 1996
• Three Hours After Marriage, Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Barbican Theatre Centre, London, 1996
• Lady Windermere's Fan, Chichester Festival Theatre, 1997
• Vita and Virginia, Sydney Theatre Company, 1997–1998
• King Lear, National Theatre of Portugal, Lisbon, 1997
• Bloody Funny, Lookout Theatre, Sydney, 1998
• The Uneasy Chair, Playwrights Horizons, New York, 1998
• Things We Do for Love, Marian Street Theatre, Sydney, 1999
• She Stoops to Conquer, Sydney Theatre Company, 2000
• Indian Ink, Canadian Stage Company, Toronto, 2002
• The Woman Destroyed, 59E59 Theater, New York, 2004
• Ying Tong, A Walk With the Goons,^[5] Sydney Theatre Company and Australian cities, 2007–2008
• Travesties, Sydney Theatre Company, 2009
• Loot, Sydney Theatre Company, 2011

Bibliography[link]

• Cottrell, Richard. Looking at Paintings: A Private View. Murdoch Books, 2009.

References[link]

• 1969 Bio on McKellen.com
• Richard Cottrell at International Casting Associates

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Richard Cottrell – Official Site
• Richard Cottrell at FilmReference.com
• Richard Cottrell at Theatricalia.com
• Richard Cottrell at the Internet Movie Database
• Bio on McKellen.com