PB4Y-2 (France)

Description

The ▄PB4Y-2 Privateer was given to France under the MDA (Mutual Defense Assistance Act) which was signed in 1949. A few years later, France would receive 22 PB4Ys and would use them in Vietnam during the first Indochina War as bombers. They served in the theater until the Battle of Dien Bien Phu which was a decisive loss for France. Six of these PB4Ys were sent back to America while the rest were shipped to North Africa to fight in Algeria and then during the Suez Crisis. In the early 1960s, the PB4Ys were scrapped.

Introduced in Update 1.73 "Vive la France", the ▄PB4Y-2 Privateer is essentially the same as the PB4Ys in the American and Chinese trees. Players should expect the PB4Y to be very slow in level flight compared to other bombers but well-defended with one turret in the nose, two dorsal turrets, two beam turrets, and one turret in the tail.

General info

Flight performance

The ▄PB4Y-2 Privateer is virtually the same as the other PB4Ys in-game. It suffers at high altitudes due to its engines being tuned for low-altitude flying, so many enemy fighters will be able to intercept you. Even at low altitudes, the PB4Y is incredibly slow and struggles to hit speeds of 400 km/h (250 mph) at level flight. Furthermore, it accelerates very slowly so it takes a long time to reach its top speed. Like many other 4-engine bombers, the PB4Y has lacklustre manoeuvrability. However, the PB4Y has a structural rip speed of 599 km/h (375.4 mph) which is much higher than the B-17 and extremely similar to the B-24's structural limit. Many other 4-engine bombers at this BR share a similar rip speed of around 600 km/h (375 mph).

Details

Survivability and armour

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass in front of nose gunner.
• 12.7 mm Steel plate in front of nose gunner.
• 9.5 mm Steel plate underneath nose gunner.
• 9.5 mm Steel plates behind pilots.
• Three 9.5 mm Steel plates inside the fuselage.
• 9.5 mm Steel plates behind and under radial engines.
• 12.7 mm Steel plates behind dorsal gunners.
• 38 mm Bulletproof glass in front of beam gunners.
• 9.5 and 6.35 mm Steel plates in front of beam gunners.
• 55 mm Bulletproof glass in front of tail gunner.
• 9.5 mm Steel plate in front of tail gunner.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Suspended armament

The PB4Y-2 (France) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 20 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 8 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (4,000 lb total)
• 4 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (4,000 lb total)
• 8 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (8,000 lb total)
• 4 x 2,000 lb AN-M66A2 bombs (8,000 lb total)
• 4 x Type A Mark I mines
• 8 x Type A Mark I mines

Defensive armament

The PB4Y-2 (France) is defended by:

• 2 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, nose turret (600 rpg = 1,200 total)
• 2 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, 2 x dorsal turrets (380 rpg = 760 total)
• 2 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, 2 x beam turrets (400 rpg = 800 total)
• 2 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, tail turret (400 rpg = 800 total)

Usage in battles

There are two ways you can go about playing the PB4Y-2 Privateer, side climbing or diving.

Side climbing

Side climbing is the safest way of going about. Start by spawning with your Heavy Bomber air spawn, and climb away from the battle. This will give your fighters enough to time to climb up and duel with the enemies. After you see most of the enemies at low alt, you are safe to go in and bomb a point and return-to-base. With side-climbing, the chance to reaching the bombing point is significantly higher as altitude is gained and it becomes less likely the enemy fighters will locate the PB4Y-2. However, side climbing will take up a lot of time and can end with the game ending before reaching the bombing point, or the team decimated.

Diving

Shallow diving:

Diving is probably the most risky way of trying to bomb but it is the quickest if you do it right. Start by spawning in then dive at about -10 degrees. This will make sure you will not overspeed before reaching the bombing point. However enemy interceptors with air spawn can potentially catch you in a head on, which is an extremely dangerous situation.

Steep diving:

Upon spawning, dive at an angle of about -40 degrees. The PB4Y will gradually pick up speed to around 500 km/h. Once you reach 580 km/h, cut throttle to avoid over speeding. If you are close to the bomb base, turn into shallow diving or level out and prepare for the bombing. Once bombs are out, bank towards your airfield while keep diving, you should fly at no more than 100 m above the ground.

Diving will also remove the defensive blind spot on the belly when staying low, as it is less likely a fighter will intercept from below. If a fighter decides to come down and attack, they lose their altitude and so friendly fighters can pounce on them more easily. However, the last point of fighters coming down may end up attracting the whole enemy team, and dealing with a swarm of enemy fighters is no one's desired outcome. At a low altitude, ground elements like anti-aircraft could also have a better chance of hitting the plane.

During an encounter with enemy aircraft, if you have time to adjust your position, try putting the enemy plane at your 10 / 2 o'clock. This way you can utilise up to 8 M2 Brownings scattered across your fuselage (2 x dorsal turrets, beam turret & nose turret) against the enemy, at the price of presenting a huge silhouette to it. This is a very dangerous tactic, but sometimes it is worth a try.

Overall, this usage is more risky than maintaining altitude and bombing, but it could be rewarding if pulled off successfully.

Enemies worth noting:

• Do 335: this interceptor posts a huge threat to the PB4Y due to its destructive firepower. An experienced Do 335 player might open fire from a far distance of 2.5 km away, at this range its MK108/MK103 shells still have adequate accuracy and damage to cripple the PB4Y, while the PB4Y's M2 Brownings can barely do any damage. The PB4Y's tail is also prone to being blown off by a few HE cannon shells.

Manual Engine Control

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Great defensive armament
• Good payload, can carry small, medium, or large bombs
• Almost full coverage from the turrets
• Most vital parts such as gunners and cooling systems are protected by armour plates which can resist shrapnel/small calibre bullets
• Impressive rear, sideways, and top turret coverage makes it a very tough target in simulator
• Has two pilots who are protected by multiple layers of armour behind, meaning it is hard to pilot snipe it from behind
• Tricycle landing gear allows continuous breaking until full stop, without having to worry about flipping over
• Critical parts such as gunners/cooling systems are quite spread out, which helps to soak up damage

Cons:

• Inadequate stock payload options
• Poor climb rate
• Very, very slow, especially when stock
• Tail can break off when landing and can be easily shot off
• Low dive limit and turn limit
• No gun coverage under the fuselage

History

After WWII and at the dawn of the Cold War, in view of rearming NATO allies, the United States passed the Mutual Defense Assistance Act where they would provide equipment to allies; France was one of those nations. 22 PB4Y-2s were supplied to the Aéronavale (French naval air arm) and were first used during the First Indochina War to suppress the North Vietnamese forces until the tide of war turned against the French; 4 of these bombers were lost during this 8-year war.

Later in the mid-1950s, 6 of these aircraft were returned to the US and the 12 remaining were then used for colony suppression in Algeria and Tunisia, as well as the 1956 Suez Crisis. As the newer P2Vs came into French service, these remaining aircraft were scrapped in 1961.^[1]

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the PB4Y-2 (France) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance