Why Were Tanks Such Difficult Targets For Aircraft During WWII?
AFVs, particularly medium or heavy tanks, were probably the most difficult targets for aircraft to attack in WWII. Given the more realistic historical assessments detailed (above) for Normandy and Kursk, objective analysis shows why aircraft attempting to attack armour in WWII faced several major hurdles. During WWII, aircraft with unguided weapons were relatively inaccurate. To a lesser extent this is the case even today and there is no comparison with modern combat aircraft with guided weapons. Against soft targets this was not as critical because bombs and rockets deployed by WWII aircraft were area weapons. Even so, small soft targets such as entrenched AT guns were difficult for WWII aircraft to destroy. Small pinpoint targets, like a moving tank, were very hard to hit because tanks required a direct hit with an AT weapon or a near miss with a very large air launched weapon to destroy it. Even much larger moving targets such as ships were difficult to hit by modern standards. This
