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Amedium bomber is amilitarybomberaircraft designed to operate with medium-sizedbombloads over mediumrange distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from largerheavy bombers and smallerlight bombers. Mediums generally carried about two tons of bombs, compared to light bombers that carried one ton, and heavies that carried four or more.
The term was used prior to and duringWorld War II, based on available parameters ofengine andaeronautical technology for bomber aircraft designs at that time. After the war, medium bombers were replaced in worldair forces by more advanced and capable aircraft.
In the early 1930s many air forces were looking to modernize their existing bomber aircraft fleets, which frequently consisted of olderbiplanes. The new designs were typically twin-enginedmonoplanes, often of all-metal construction, and optimized for high enough performance and speed to help evade rapidly evolvingfighter aircraft designs of the time. Some of these bombers, such as theHeinkel He 111,Junkers Ju 86,Savoia-Marchetti SM.79,Douglas B-18, andArmstrong Whitworth Whitley were developed from or in conjunction with existingairliners or transport aircraft.
The World War II-era medium bomber was generally considered to be anylevel bomber design that delivered about 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) ofordnance over ranges of about 1,500 to 2,000 mi (2,400 to 3,200 km). Typicalheavy bombers were those with a nominal load of 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg) or more,[citation needed] and light bombers carried up to 2,000 lb (907 kg).[citation needed]
These distinctions were beginning to disappear by the middle of World War II, when the averagefighter aircraft could now carry a 2,000 lb (907 kg) bombload. Advances inpowerplants anddesigns eventually allowedlight bombers,tactical bombers, and laterjetfighter-bombers to take over the roles performed by mediums.
After the war, use of the term generally vanished; some of this was due to mass demobilization of the participant air forces' existing equipment, and the fact that several of the most-produced medium bomber types were now technologically obsolescent. Although a number of later aircraft were designed in this performance and load-carrying range, they were henceforth referred to astactical bombers orstrike aircraft instead. Examples of post-war mediums include theEnglish Electric Canberra (along with its derived U.S. counterpart, theMartin B-57) and the SovietIlyushin Il-28 "Beagle".
Subsequent to World War II, only the U.S.Strategic Air Command ever used the term "medium bomber" in the 1950s to distinguish itsBoeing B-47 Stratojets from somewhat larger contemporaryBoeing B-52 Stratofortress "heavy bombers" in bombardment wings (olderB-29 andB-50 heavy bombers were also redesignated as "medium" during this period).[1][2][3] Thisnomenclature was purely semantic and bureaucratic, however as both the B-47 and B-52strategic bombers were much larger and had far greater performance and load-carrying ability than any of the World War II-era heavy or medium bombers. Similarly, theRoyal Air Force referred at times to itsV bomber force as medium bombers,[4] but this was in terms of range rather than load-carrying capacity.
Although the term is no longer used, development of aircraft that fulfil a 'medium bomber' mission in all but name continued and these have been employed in various post-World War II conflicts; examples include dedicated tactical bombers such as theSu-24,Su-34,F-111,J-16 andF-15E which have greaterpayload andrange capability than fighter-bombers, but less than heavier strategic bombers.