AA and AAA

[RedeyeStorm]

In response to @Yogiflight I enjoy watching AI bombers execute there attack run when flying escort. All the bombers drop there bombs except the outer two bombers (left and right). That is usually caused because the flight leader starts the turn before the last two planes hit thre drop point. Another instance when AI bombers do not drop is when the flight leader gets shot down on the bomb run (weather AAA or fighters does not matter.

 

The flight leader seems to target the first target along his flightplan so the rest will always drop short.

[Yogiflight]

7 hours ago, RedeyeStorm said:

The flight leader seems to target the first target along his flightplan so the rest will always drop short.

Interesting information, thanks. That definitely makes sense

[IckyATLAS]

This is why when creating a mission with the editor it is best have each bomber it's target. This means that you must craft the flight plan for each bomber and organize speed and altitude parameters carefully to keep formation. It is time consuming but the advantage is that you can create your own formation patterns and avoid issues related to erratic leader behavior. Try to have all bombers identical in type and load if you want them to keep formation on longer distances when you have multiple trajectories.

For small formation like two or three bombers it's ok to have a leader but for large numbers it is definitely better to split.

You can optimize also this with say 16 bombers by having 8 two planes formation or 5 three planes formation (V-Form is the most compact one) plus one bomber. That makes for 6 trajectories. But in that case better have 18 planes in total. In my opinion you should not have more than three bombers per formation (leader + 2 wingmen). In this way bombing remains effective, compact, and wingmen reaction time are ok. You can also combine two planes and three planes formation for larger number of bombers. 

The editor allows you to control very well the moment bombs are dropped and the trajectory after that.

I am not sure in Quick Missions how the devs do it.