Bombs

Bombs can only be deployed from stealth bombers equipped with bomb launchers, due to the untargeted nature of the area of effect damage they should only be deployed in nullsec and wormhole space there is nothing stopping a pilot deploying bombs outside of these areas but the untargeted nature of the damage will cause CONCORD to get involved with subsequent retribution arriving.

How Bombs Work

Bombs are unlike any other missiles as they are unguided and do not require the pilot to lock his target prior to launch. When they are deployed, they will travel in front of the bomb launcher in a straight line, continuing for a fixed amount of time (12 seconds for damage bombs, 7.5 seconds for Void and Lockbreaker bombs) until they reach a distance of 30km from the original launch point where they will detonate. This detonation causes a large amount of damage of a single type to all ships within 15km radius of the detonation. Remember, this damage is indiscriminate as it causes the same damage to the launching ship as well the others that are within the blast zone radius and as stealth bombers are notoriously squishy, it is likely that those that are caught within the blast radius will be destroyed. Do not continue flying in a straight line following the launch of a bomb and if flying with other bombers, be aware of their launch points as well.

Bomb Types

Each bomb inflicts 6400 of raw damage, plus an additional 5% damage per level of Covert Ops skill trained. Thus, a character with Covert Ops trained to IV would inflict 7680 raw damage. The damage of each bomb is of a single type and these are:

• Concussion bombs do kinetic damage

• Electron bombs do EM damage

• Scorch bombs do thermal damage

• Shrapnel bombs do explosive damage

• Void bombs do negligible damage but neutralize 1,800GJ of energy from their victims' capacitors

• Lockbreaker bombs do negligible damage but emit an ECM burst with a strength (on all sensor types) of 12.5

 Void and Lockbreaker bombs travel at 4,000m/s, so it only takes them 7.5s to travel 30km before they explode.

Stealth Bomber types

Each of the four stealth bomber hulls has a damage bonus for one specific type of bomb

Shrapnel: Explosive damage best used in the Hound

Concussion: Kinetic damage best used in the Manticore

Electron: EM damage best used in the Purifier

Scorch: Thermal damage best used in the Nemesis

Bombs, like all weapon systems, deliver less damage to smaller targets and in general a single bomb will not in itself deliver sufficient damage to destroy any ship. It is usual for bombers to fly in a wing to deliver a large amount of area of effect damage to as many ships as possible. It is possible for bombs to be destroyed in flight, the 12 second flight time allows a fast locking ship to identify lock and destroy the target however the pilot would have to be expecting the launch and as the bomber remains cloaked prior to deployment this is an unlikely scenario.

Like missile damage, Bomb damage can be modified by the signature radii of the target ships, which is compared to the bomb's explosion radius of 400m. But unlike missile damage, bomb damage cannot be modified by the target ships' speeds.

This means that frigates can often survive one or two bombs because, although frigates don't have many effective hitpoints, they have very small signature radii. A frigate that has an MWD on at the moment of detonation is likely to die to one bomb, however, because of the MWD's signature-quintupling side effect. The deployment of a target painter also serves to increase the signature radius of the targeted ship.

Bomb Resistances

Bombs have a small number of hitpoints and can be destroyed by smartbombs or by other bombs. This means that if a wing of bombers launches a mixture of bomb types at the same time and in the same direction, the first bomb to explode will probably destroy all the other bombs before they have a chance to go off and deal damage themselves.

Each of the four damage-dealing bombs has a 99.8% resistance to its own damage type. It is therefore necessary for groups of bombers to choose one damage type and all use that kind of bomb. That way, when the first bombs explode, the other bombs' resistance to their own damage type will let them survive the damage and explode themselves.

Bombing Tactics

A good introduction to bombing is here Bombing 101

• Credit to Hallan Turrek, from his guide "A Merry Life and a Short One"
• Credit to Space Junkie for "Flying Stealth Bombers In EVE Online"