"Many people ask me why we lost the First War in the air when we had better fighters. I tell them that for every bomber we shoot down, they could make two, and their fighters were damn good at defending them. Plenty of good men died trying to kill the bombers. It was only a matter of time before they would have turned our marble palaces into a pile of rubble."
-Sgt. Cleo, fighter ace, 31 kills

The Provider Heavy Bomber is a converted Provider Transport redesigned to carry bombs. With its fairly heavy bombload under its wings, it could deal an appreciable amount of damage. However, it was recognized that these types were incapable of defending themselves, and fighter tactics were devised to make up for this.

When the First Olympian War came along, the fighters and bombers were prepared to launch raids. Initially, the bombers sustained heavier than anticipated losses, due to the practice of the Pummelers flying in close escort to the bombers, preventing them from reacting to boom and zoom attacks from Athena fighters. Another handicapping factor was the fact these bombers went up against heavily-defended and hardened military targets. They did not deal a significant amount of damage to the enemy, and were regarded as ineffective.

It was then realized by General Armstrong Victor that these aircraft were fairly inaccurate. Tactics and targets were revised. In the first week of General Victor's command, he launched mass raids of Pummeler Fighters and Attack in a decapitation strike against air defense radars, known as Operation Smackdown. Fighter opposition remained, but was less effective without radar to direct them.

Afterward, operations resumed, with Pummelers taking an offensive role, actively seeking Athenas in a "Clean Sweep", ensuring the bombers would encounter minimal resistance. While some Athenas were able to engage and shoot down the bombers, Pummelers would be able to drive off the Athenas. Finally, the bombers were sent towards the much larger, less defended and softer industrial targets. Loss rates decreased dramatically, and not only was air superiority was established, but the Olympian economy crippled.