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Toss bombing (sometimes known as loft bombing) is a method of bombing where the attacking aircraft pulls upwards and releases its bomb load, giving the bomb additional forward velocity. Although this might seem the direct opposite to dive bombing, where the plane pitches downwards to aim at its target, toss bombing is often performed with a short dive before the bomber raises its nose and releases its bomb. This can help give both the bomb and aircraft extra momentum, thereby helping the aircraft regain altitude after the release.

Toss bombing is usually performed at low altitude, with the aircraft pulling up at the last moment at an angle that helps the bomb cover some horizontal distance in spite of its low release. Release usually occurs at about 35°–75° above the horizontal, causing the bomb to be tossed forward, much like an underarm throw of a ball.

Toss bombing is used by pilots wishing to evade detection or dropping particularly powerful loads, such as nuclear weapons, on their targets. In the former case, remaining at a low altitude for as long as possible allows the bomber to avoid radar and visual tracking, and in the latter case, gaining altitude post release can help the bomber to avoid the subsequent blast from the bomb.

Due to the intense pilot workload involved with flying and entering the window of opportunity, some aircraft are equipped with a “Toss Bomb Computer” (in US nuclear delivery, a part of the Low Altitude Bombing System) that enables the pilot to release the bomb at the correct angle. The Toss Bomb Computer takes airspeed inputs from the aircraft’s Pitot system, altitude inputs from the static system, attitude inputs from the gyroscopic system and inputs from weapons selectors signifying the type of bomb. While deployed in Europe with NATO, RCAF CF-104 fighter-bombers carried a Toss Bomb Computer until their nuclear role was eliminated by the Canadian government effective 1 January 1972.

“Over-the-shoulder” delivery

A more dynamic variant of toss bombing, called over-the-shoulder bombing, or the LABS (Low Altitude Bombing System) maneuver, is a particular kind of loft bombing where the bomb is released past the vertical so it is tossed back towards the target. This tactic was first made public in 1957 at Eglin AFB, when a B–47 entered its bombing run at low altitude, pulled up sharply (3.5 g) into a half loop, releasing its bomb under computer control at a predetermined point in its climb, then executed a half roll, completing a maneuver similar to an Immelmann turn or Half Cuban Eight. The bomb continued upward for some time in a high arc before falling on a target which was a considerable distance from its point of release. In the meantime, the maneuver had allowed the bomber to change direction and distance itself from the target.

• “Over-the-Shoulder” Fact Sheet, National Museum of the United States Air Force

• Tactical bombing
• Strategic bombing
• Carpet bombing
• Terror bombing