Navyfield Planes

Aircraft
As in real naval combat, airplanes are very potent weapons and tools that can easily turn the tide of battle in the proper circumstances. In order to use airplanes, players must first have at minimum a Rookie Pilot sailor on their ship; for the specialized airplanes, more specialized classes are required. Their ship must have the ability to carry planes. In general, all ships CL and above are able to carry airplanes, though some CLs do not possess this capability. Furthermore, only CVs have the ability to carry and launch planes other than scouts.

Scouts
Scouts, while not necessarily weapons in the normal sense, are considered the eyes of a fleet. Most CLs, all CAs and BCs, and most BBs (the Nelson class battleship being the only exception) are able to carry scouts. Scouts have a very wide range of view; however, they possess very little firepower with which to defend themselves, are comparatively slower than most other planes, and are easy to shoot down. For this reason, most ships are able to carry more than one scout, in the very likely event that one is lost in battle. Scouting is a very important tactic in the game, since it gives each team information regarding the whereabouts of enemy ships, and spot gunnery fire for BBs, allowing them to shoot targets farther than their sight-range allows.

Scouts require a Rookie Pilot to fly them; pilots of higher classes may not pilot scouts. As a Rookie Pilot increases in level, he gains access to more powerful scouting aircraft.

Fighters
In order to protect their fleets, CVs may carry and launch Fighters from their flight decks. The role of the fighter is to intercept and destroy enemy planes that pose a threat to all friendly ships and, in the case of enemy fighters, a threat to friendly airplanes. While fighters are very useful in destroying enemy airplanes, they cannot attack enemy ships, which can shoot them down with AA. Fighters are very fast and have considerable firepower, but have the shortest flight time of all planes and rely on friendly ships and scouts in order to see around them, as their sight-range is very poor. Using fighters to shoot down planes also yields the most credits.

Fighters require a Fighter Pilot or higher to pilot. As a Fighter Pilot increases in level, he gains access to more powerful fighting aircraft, and becomes more effective at fighting.

Torpedo bombers
One of the primary anti-ship weapons of CVs, Torpedo Bombers (TB for short) are used to attack enemy ships. Like scouts, they are slow and vulnerable to enemy attack, and they, like fighters, have very limited sight-range. However, they have the ability to attack enemy ships by getting close and dropping torpedoes into the water, which then run towards enemy ships and detonate. They are very useful for destroying ships that have little to no bulge armor, such as DDs, and also for wearing down BBs, which cannot move quickly enough to completely dodge torpedo salvoes. Because they have to drop altitude in order to release their torpedoes, torpedo bombers are very vulnerable to ships' automatic anti-aircraft weapons.

Torpedo Bombers require a Torpedo Bomber Pilot or higher to pilot. As a Torpedo Bomber Pilot increases in level, he gains access to more powerful aircraft, which can carry and use more powerful torpedoes.

Dive bombers
The second primary anti-ship weapon that CVs yield, Dive Bombers, or DBs for short, are used to attack and destroy enemy ships. Similar to TBs they are vulnerable to attack and cannot see very far, but like TBs, they have the ability to destroy ships without putting the CV in danger. Dive bombers attack by flying over their targets, diving downwards, and dropping their bombs onto the decks of ships. Because they directly attack a ship instead of its bulge, they are very useful for wearing down a ship for others to finish off with shells. Furthermore, because they do not have to drop altitude to release their ordnance, they are less vulnerable to automatic AAW. However, because they have to fly directly over a target, they are more vulnerable to flak.

Dive Bombers require a Dive Bomber Pilot or higher to pilot. As a Dive Bomber Pilot increases in level, he gains access to more powerful aircraft, which can carry and drop more powerful bombs.

Navyfield