During 1943 the undercarriage supports were replaced by rails that allowed to carry four 76mm RP-3 rockets with a high explosive (HE) warhead up to 27kg.
The Typhoons capable of carrying bombs were nicknamed “Bombphoons”. They entered service with the RAF 181 Squadron in September 1942, and they carried two 454kgs bombs.
At the end of 1943, there were 18 Squadrons provided with Typhoon I.B, some armed only with RP-3 rockets and others only with bombs. In this way, the supplies were facilitated and the skills of the pilots in each weapon were improved.
It is estimated that tanks destroyed by rockets were only 4% of the total, because it was a very inaccurate weapon. However, the effectiveness against the morale of the Wehrmacht was devastating by not having air support to counteract the Typhoon.
About 400 Typhoon participated in the final stage of the war against Germany in the spring of 1945, mainly in missions to destroy the German antiaircraft artillery or “Flak”.
This is the only complete Typhoon that has survived to this day. It belongs to the Smithsonian Museum collection, although this picture was taken in 2004 at the Hendon RAF Museum, placed in North of London.
The 486 Squadron New Zealanders operated the Typhoon I.B from July 1942 to April 1944 as day fighter and attack missions, claiming 22 enemy kills.
The Typhoon were operated by the British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Air Forces with considerable success from 1942 until the end of the war.
The concentrated attack of a few Typhoon, could disrupt any German intention to counterattack against the Allied Forces in Normandy due to the lack of air cover by the Germans.
