That is why I mentioned Soviet bomber units. Boston's and A-20's were mostly used by the mine and torpedo regiments. As far as the actual bombing goes, lend-lease bombers like the B-25 were a complete non-entity compared to the domestic Soviet bombers. Biggest battles of the human kind's history were fought on the eastern front which was thousands of kilometers long. It is compeletely rediculous to even imply that a Italian bomber is a bigger hole in the planeset than a Soviet one. I mean those two things are so far apart that it is a total no-brainer which was more influential.
I have nothing against SM.79, it would be a cool and historic bomber, but far less needed than a Pe-2. Pe-2 is the biggest single gap in the planeset at the moment.
My Finnish friend,
Your personal definition of 'non-entity' appears to be somewhat flawed as is your comparative analysis of "biggest single gap."
A-20 twin-engine light attack bombers - 2908
B-25 twin-engine medium bombers - 862
"American Douglas A-20 (known by British name Boston in Russia) was most widespread foreign bomber in the Soviet aviation. During the Great Patriotic War years the USSR had more planes of this type, then the USA. About 3000 bombers (3125) were supplied in accordance to Lend-Lease terms. These planes flew over land and sea. Bostons served as bombers, reconnaissance planes, torpedo-bombers, heavy night fighters and high-speed transports. Armies of other countries used many A-20s too, but Soviet Air Force was main user of these planes. Some years after war ending Bostons served with Soviet Air Force, Navy Aviation and Civil Air Fleet. "
" B-25 Mitchell in accordance to Lend-Lease terms were delivered and in other countries of a coalition — Great Britain, Australia, France, Holland, 861 in various modifications were delivered in the USSR.
First machines (B - 25B) were delivered by a sea way in USSR at the end of 1941 year. B-25 in the USSR used for armies support. Further B-25 (modifications C/D, later were delivered and J) were applied for different long-range actions. "
http://www.airpages.ru/eng/uk/gs_uk60.shtml"The Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Italian for "Sparrowhawk") was a three-engined Italian medium bomber with a wood-and-metal structure. Originally designed as a fast passenger aircraft, this low-wing monoplane, in the years 1937–39, set 26 world records that qualified it for some time as the fastest medium bomber in the world.[1] It first saw action during the Spanish Civil War and flew on all fronts in which Italy was involved during World War II.[2] It became famous and achieved many successes as a torpedo bomber in the Mediterranean theater.[3] The SM.79 was an outstanding aircraft and was certainly the best-known Italian aeroplane of World War II.[2] It was easily recognizable due to its distinctive fuselage dorsal "hump", and was well liked by its crews who nicknamed it Gobbo Maledetto ("damned hunchback").[4] It was the most widely produced Italian bomber of World War II, with some 1,300 built, remaining in Italian service until 1952.[5]"
"Almost 600 SM.79-I and –II aircraft were in service when Italy entered World War II, and these aircraft were deployed in every theatre of war in which the Italians fought. The 12° Stormo (Wing) was the first to be equipped with the SM.79, starting in early 1936. 12 Wing was involved in the initial evaluation of the bomber, which continued throughout 1936. The Wing went operational on 1 May 1936 with the SM.79 successfully completing torpedo launches from a target distance of 5 km (3.1 mi) in August 1936. The torpedo bomber variant was much more unstable and harder to control than the civilian version (and much less precise than its successor, the SM.81). Its capabilities were still being explored when the Spanish Civil War broke out, and a number of SM.79s were dispatched to support the Nationalists. By 4 November 1936, there were only six SM.79s with enough crew to fly them operating in Spain. At the beginning of 1937, there were 15 SM.79s in total, and they went on to be used in Spain throughout the conflict, with very few losses. Around 19 of the total sent there were lost. Deliveries to 12 Wing and other units involved numbered at least 99 aircraft.
The first recorded interception of an SM.79 formation took place on 11 October 1937 when three aircraft were attacked by 12 Polikarpov I-16s. One of the SM.79s was damaged but its defensive armament prevented close-up attacks. All bombers returned to base, although one had been hit by 27 bullets, many hitting the fuel tanks. Other interceptions occurred in the conflict without any SM.79s being lost.[20]
Combat experience revealed some deficiencies in the SM.79: the lack of oxygen masks for high altitude operation, instability, vibrations experienced at speeds over 400 km/h (250 mph) and other problems were encountered and sometimes solved. General Valle, in an attempt to answer some of the criticisms about the ability of the aircraft to operate at night, took off from Guidonia and bombed Barcelona, a journey of six hours and 15 minutes. On this occasion the aircraft proved it had a useful range (around 1,000 km/620 mi with eight 100 kg (220 lb) bombs, for a total gross weight of around 1,000 kg/2,200 lb). SM.79s operated from the Balearic Islands and later from mainland Spain. Hundreds of missions were performed in a wide range of roles against Republican targets. No Fiat CR.32s were needed to escort the SM.79s, partly because the biplane fighters were too slow.
After serving in the Spanish Civil War, the Sparviero came into use with 111° and 8° Wing. By the end of 1939, there were 388 Sparvieros in service, with 11 wings partially or totally made up of this aircraft. They also participated in the occupation of Albania in autumn 1939.[21]
By the beginning of World War II 612 aircraft had been delivered, making the Sparviero the most numerous bomber in the whole of the Regia Aereonautica, assigned to a total of 14 wings (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 30, 32, 33, 34, 36, 41 and 46).[21] Not all of these wings had Gruppi (groups) entirely equipped with the SM.79. Every squadron had around nine to 10 aircraft, but this included second line aircraft, so the force of each squadron consisted on average of around seven to eight bombers, and every wing had around 30 bombers. Among these units; 8, 9, 11, 12, 30, 32, 36, 41 and 46 Stormi (Wings) were based in Italy, and participated in the Battle of France. They were equipped with a total of around 350 SM.79s, including those used in training squadrons."
^ Arena et al. 1994, p. 7.
^ a b Angelucci and Matricardi 1978, p. 198.
^ a b Arena et al. 1994, p. 9.
^ "Savoia-Marchetti SM.79/" Aviation History On-Line Museum. Retrieved: 26 December 2011.
^ a b Mondey 1996, p. 236.
^ Sgarlato 2002, p. 13.
^ a b Sgarlato 2002, p. 18.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoia-Marchetti_SM.79~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The AHII "Italian plane set" consists of 2 variants of the C2 series fighter. There is no bomber. There is no lend-lease bomber. There is nothing to fill the bomber role for the Italians in a Mediterranean (or any other) setting. The claim that the lack of a Soviet built level bomber for the AHII plane set is the most glaring omission is both biased and false. While I've nothing against adding a Soviet built level bomber (I, myself, being an advocate of the TU-2), such modeling work should not be a precursor to the SM.79. Game events have at least some suitable historical level bombers for the Soviets without substitution.
