WarSimBox
English Electric Canberra B.2, the in-game model
1951United KingdomBomber

English Electric Canberra B.2

The English Electric Canberra was Britain’s first jet bomber. Like the Mosquito it carried no defensive guns, relying on an altitude and speed that fighters and anti-aircraft guns could not reach. It was very successful: the United States built it under licence as the B-57, and reconnaissance versions flew with the RAF until 2006, 57 years in all.

Height and speed

Designed by Teddy Petter, the Canberra had a broad, thick wing that made it very agile at high altitude; in its early years many fighters struggled to catch it. In 1951 it became the first jet bomber to fly the Atlantic non-stop, and in 1957 a specially prepared Canberra set an altitude record of more than 21 km.

English Electric Canberra B.2, side view
English Electric Canberra B.2: the in-game model from the side.

Half a century of service

The Canberra was used in the 1956 Suez Crisis; licence-built B-57s fought in Vietnam, and Argentine Canberras flew in the 1982 Falklands War. High-altitude reconnaissance versions served with the RAF until 2006, and the WB-57s that NASA uses as research aircraft still fly today.

In WarSimBox

In the game it is a jet bomber with no defensive guns: it flies above 12 km, at a height and speed that piston fighters and anti-aircraft guns cannot reach. It carries bombs internally and under the wings.

Unlocked in the aircraft tree after researching Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress and Centrifugal-flow turbojet.

Top speed
918 km/h · 7,000 m
Climb
31.9 m/s
Sustained turn
19.9 s
Stall speed
166 km/h

These figures come from the game’s flight model (climb, turn and stall at sea level).

Fly it in WarSimBox