Bomb

Bombs are a specialty weapon found only on certain subtypes of aerospace fighters (ASFs), namely the Attacker and Bomber variants. These weapons were first introduced in the 0.8.3 patch as a part of a general ASF update and replace the old Fire Bombs found in previous versions of the game.

Bombs come in three different categories: Cluster, High Explosive and Laser-Guided.

Weapon Stats

Weapon	Min Range	Max Range	Lock On Range	Splash Damage/Shot	Damage Type	Sec. Splash Damage/Shot	Sec. Damage Type	Splash Radius (prm/sec)	Shots /min	Sustained DPS	Max Speed (m/s)	Heat /Shot	Ammo /ton	Ammo cost /ton
Bomb (CL)	---	1500m*	---	5 x 54	Kinetic	5 x 106	Missile	26.5m / 40m	2.8	37	---	---	5	2000
Bomb (HE)				400		400		17.5m / 25m	3	40			1
Bomb (LG)	100m	~1000m						7.5m / 10m	4.3	57	100	100

*Max drop altitude	All stats are current as of release 0.14.10

Gameplay & Hints

Cluster

Cluster bombs (CL) are dumb-fired like their HE siblings, except have a far greater area-of-effect radius at the cost of direct damage. Instead of dropping a single bomb, cluster bombs are dropped as five bomblets at a time; spare clusters are then reloaded as separate payloads, if spares are available.

Cluster bombs are ideal for saturating a number of opponents in a confined space and performing area suppression/denial. With some skill, they can even be quite dangerous to single enemies as well. Cluster bombs are also highly potent against Battle Armor owing to their large splash radius, as their submunitions are strong enough to one-shot any BA caught outside of cover.

High Explosive

High Explosive (HE) bombs are dumb-fire area-of-effect weapons that bear the most resemblance to the old Fire Bomb. They deal heavy damage to units caught within its blast radius, which is usually only wide enough to hit a single asset at a time. Of all the bombs, HE are the easiest to avoid and thus require some skill to score consistent hits, especially against a moving target.

Laser-Guided

Laser-guided (LG) bombs are actually more like guided missiles being capable of tracking a target that is painted with a TAG laser or a NARC beacon. When fired without an active TAG or NARC, LG bombs will instead track where the crosshair is pointing; this means they can be delivered to the target with good precision even without external guidance, although it may force the bomber to come in closer to their target. LG bombs deal similar amounts of damage as HE bombs, but the explosion (splash) radius is bit smaller.

Canon

Cluster Bombs are a special type of High-Explosive Bomb which can cause damage over a wide area. They are typically carried on external hardpoints common to military aircraft.
BattleTech reference

High-Explosive Bombs are one of several common bomb types that can be carried by aerospace and conventional fighters. They are typically carried on external hardpoints common to military aircraft.
BattleTech reference

Laser-Guided Bombs are a special type of High-Explosive Bomb which can be directed against a specific target through special equipment such as Target Acquisition Gear. They are typically carried on external hardpoints common to military aircraft.
BattleTech reference

Usage

The following aerospace fighters equip bombs:

Bomb (HE)		Bomb (LG)		Bomb (CL)
Inner Sphere Sparrowhawk (C,G) Corsair (E,F) Rusalka (D,G) Shiva (C,F)	Clan Avar (E,F) Sulla (B,H) Visigoth (B,E) Xerxes (Pr,C,E)	Inner Sphere Sparrowhawk (D,F) Corsair (C,H) Rusalka (Pr,E) Shiva (A,D,G)	Clan Avar (C) Sulla (Pr,D) Visigoth (D,F) Xerxes (A,D)	Inner Sphere Sparrowhawk (E) Corsair (D,G) Rusalka (B,F) Shiva (Pr) Shiva (B,E,G)	Clan Avar (D,G) Sulla (F,G) Visigoth (Pr,G) Xerxes (B,F,G)

	All lists are current as of release 0.14.10

---