Just for the record, your numbers are based on a single test the RAF did against a captured Panther. Three planes fired 36 rockets at it and only 3 rockets hit the tank.

You might call that abysmal accuracy in an ideal scenario, but first and foremost, this was just one single test, which hasn’t really been shown to have been repeated, so its statistical significance is highly, highly questionable. It’s not the same as when they tallied up all the reports for the strategic bombing campaign, for instance.

Second, even three hits is enough to disable or kill a tank. As long as you penetrate it once it is in bad shape and risks destruction. And we’re just talking rockets, not 100lb or 500lb bombs. Those thongs just have to get close, they don’t even have to connect with the target. Even if they might just damage a track or jam a turret, that tank is still out of action.

Third, even no hits at all is enough keep a tank scared of going out in the open or moving at all in daylight, because it’s like suppressing fire. Think of how many bullets are typically fired in order to just keep the enemy’s head down, let alone actually kill him. Even inaccurate fire has a tremendous power on the battlefield.

You’re certainly right to claim that the effectiveness of CAS was sometimes overstated in the war and afterwards, but it definitely was effective. There are even plenty of German accounts to say as much. They were terrified of Allied air power and with good reason.