Patrol bomber: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

A patrol bomber, or patrol aircraft, is an airplane designed to operate for long times over water in an anti-shipping or anti-submarine role.

Many of the original patrol aircraft were converted from long-range bombers, with notable conversions being the widespread use of B-24 Liberator's during World War II to patrol the areas between Iceland and Greenland and attack German submarines. Custom-designed aircraft were also used, including England's Short Sunderland and Germany's Focke-Wulf Condor.

After the war the patrol role was generally taken over by conversions of civilian airliners, that had range and performance better than most WWII bombers, while the latest jet-powered bombers did not have the endurance needed for long over-water cruising. The main threat to the United States throughout the 1960s and into the 1980s were Soviet attack submarines, which were found primarily with the use of sonobuoys, and then attacked with homing torpedos.

Today the threat of a large scale submarine attack is remote, and many forces are downsizing their patrol aircraft fleets. Those still in service are used primarily for counter-smuggling and fishing limits enforcement duties.

Examples:

Lockheed Neptune

Lockheed Orion

Avro Shackleton

Shorts Sunderland

Canadair Argus

Breguet Atlantique

deHavilland /BAe Nimrod

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor