I haven't used them myself yet, but are freefall bombs viable weapons in BS?

In the game it seems like you can get detected very easily if you aren't careful and employing freefall bombs seems to be a really easy way of allowing yourself to be detected. Put yourself over an infantry squad and they'll give you a shoulder-launched missile. Get close to AAA or SAMs and they'll blast you out of the sky very quickly.

Is there something I'm missing. I can't think of any situation where I'd want to use bombs.

I can think in two situations right now:

1-As a hunter/killer team, a wingman protect you from the SAMS/AAA and you bomb the brdiges, installations or watherver you need to bomb

2-To attack not protected zones.

There really isn't any situations where you would want to use bombs with the black shark.

They are unguided and there is no pipper to help you get on target.

Against bunkers. S-13's will do the trick as well as large missiles.

Against soft convoy - your cannon will be more precise, more effective, and gives you stand off ability.

Against hard convoy, well you definitely don't want to fly overhead anything that can shoot back with a good degree of accuracy. So missiles and guns are preferred here.

Against a group of infantry - hmmm is that a stinger in the middle of them? Definitely don't want to overfly infantry too often as RPG soldiers WILL take pot shots at you (not to mention the guys with guns are going to scratch your paint work). Again, the cannon will outrange a stinger and HE shells have area of effect to take out a group. You can also spam with rockets quite effectively.

So, why would you carry bombs? They get you too close to the enemy. They are hard to target correctly, they can take you out as well if you do it wrong.

Leave bombs up to the fixed wing guys that can do it far more effectively.

Iirc the Mi24 has freefall iron bomb capability, so the feature seems to be common on Russian attack helis.

I wonder if Russian Mi24's have dropped iron bombs? Maybe in Afganistan?

Yes, they have. They are typically used against troop positions IIRC, or to destroy buildings.

If you choose to use them....there is a minimum altitude or they will not release! I believe that it is 100m.

I've ordered my wingmen to use them against ground targets, just to see what would happen. The results weren't very pretty let me tell you...

But watching wingmen carry out the attacks was very educational. Actually watching the wingmen do anything in this game is extremely educational.

I guess I might as well land near the enemy and step out to choke them before I use free-fall bombs.

I think they are very handy for reducing structures, have used them for that a few times and the KMGU dispenser is second to none agains trucks and other softskinned defenceless dummies

Staffan

In BS is there any necessity to ever use bombs against structures in either a campaign or a mission?