P-47/51 deflection shots into the belly of the German tanks,reality

Tony Williams wrote:

Guy Alcala wrote in message ...

Well, for one thing, they'd be far more likely to be successful just
shooting at the engine decking and getting a round in directly through the
top plate (even though this is generally thicker than the bottom armor) or
more likely the gratings/air intakes, which CAN cause an engine/fuel fire
or at least put the engine out of action.

[much good info snipped]

Good post, Guy. I have no argument with your figures, and there is no
doubt that some tanks were knocked out by aerial gunfire. However, of
the hundreds of knocked-out German tanks examined by Allied OR Units,
it seems that only a handful could be attributed to this cause, so the
tactic doesn't seem to have worked all that often.

That's my reading as well.

Guy