Continuing the theme of "night lights", after we walked through the technique of the Third Reich, we begin to look at everyone else. Before starting, however, it is worth saying a few words that I may have missed in the first part.
The aircraft we are looking at are night fighters. Accordingly, one must understand the difference between a night fighter and a fighter that fought in the dark. The difference is in the radar and (for example) the heat direction finder. The MiG-3 of the Moscow air defense system, which chased the Junkers in the beams of the searchlights, are not night fighters. These are fighters that had to be fought at night, because there were no others.
And the Pe-2 "Gneiss", the first Soviet fighter with a radar, is not an object of consideration, since there is currently no information on the combat use of these aircraft, of which about a dozen were produced. And the flights, the purpose of which was to work out the tactics of application, is a bit different after all.
Thus, our first object of consideration will be British.
Bristol Blenheim I (IV) F
This was the first British pancake. Which, as expected, came out lumpy. By the beginning of World War II, the Blenheim was so out of date that it would be a crime to let it fly in the daytime.
The maximum speed that the aircraft could develop was just over 400 km / h, and the cruising speed was another hundred less. The ceiling was at an altitude of 7700 m, the flight range was 1480 km. In general, he did not shine with anything, even in 1940.
However, something had to be done with the Germans, since they also took the fashion of flying on a visit at night. And the landmark decision was made to convert the bomber into a night fighter.
As a bomber, the Blenheim I carried simply luxurious armament of one Lewis machine gun in the top turret and one Browning forward. Both machine guns were 7, 7 mm.
Deciding that this was more than enough for defense, the British, without straining at all, added a battery of four forward Browning in a container under the bomb bay. This did not worsen the aerodynamics, there was generally nothing to worsen and so, and the firepower increased.
A radar station was placed in the bomb bay. Moreover, the "Blenheims" were visited by three of the four modifications of the AI radar, in fact, the aircraft has become a kind of testing ground.
How many "Blenheims" were converted into night fighters, it is impossible to say for sure, since if the first series was made for themselves by the Royal Air Force, then "Blenheims" of the fourth series were under the jurisdiction of the fleet aviation and were more often used to search for enemy submarines. Reliably there is a figure of 370 aircraft, but only containers with machine guns were produced 1374 pieces, so that in reality there could be more.
The night Blenheims fought in the defense of Britain, North Africa and India. But the victories of this fighter were more the exception than the rule, since its speed qualities simply did not allow anyone to catch up. Therefore, by 1944, all Blenheims were replaced by Beaufighters.
De Havilland Mosquito NF
But this is already serious. We have already spoken about the Mosquito, it was a very peculiar plane. And the fighter-"night light" on its base came out corresponding.
And he appeared, oddly enough, in response to the reconnaissance flights of the Junkers Ju-86P over Britain. These aircraft, which received a pressurized cabin, new engines and wings with an increased area, to put it mildly, harassed the British.
Reconnaissance flights at an altitude of 11-12 thousand meters, and even with bombing, knocked out the British command. It is clear that bombing from such a height is about nothing in terms of accuracy, but the fact that nothing could be done with the Junkers did not add positive emotions. And "Spitfires" were simply useless, because they simply could not catch up with the enemy. More precisely, while the British pilots somehow climbed to such a height, the Germans simply and calmly left them.
This is how the lightweight "Mosquito" appeared. They removed all the "superfluous", such as the protectors of gas tanks, and part of the fuel and oil had to be sacrificed. They removed all bomb bay equipment and radio equipment, and increased the wing area. The plane began to climb to a height of 13 thousand meters. The protectors were then returned when more powerful engines appeared.
The second step was the construction of the so-called "universal nose". This design of the nose cone made it possible to mount both English locators (AI. Mk. VIII, AI. Mk. IX or AI. Mk. X) and American (SCR-720 or SCR-729).
The fighter was "ready to use."
He flew a night "Mosquito" with a maximum speed of 608 km / h, a ceiling of 10800 m, a range of 2985 km. Data for Mosquito NF Mk. XIX. The armament consisted of four 20-mm Hispano-Suiza cannons and an AI Mk. IX radar.
The Mosquito proved to be the only weapon against the night raids of the new German FW-190A-4 / U8 and FW-190A-5 / U8 fighter-bombers from the SKG10 high-speed bomber squadron. This squadron, at first, delivered a lot of unpleasant air defense minutes for Britain, since fast and low-flying Focke-Wulfs were practically not detected by British ground radars, and in flight speed (after the bomb was dropped) they were not inferior to British fighters.
But when the tactics of surprise strikes from a low altitude were opposed to "Mosquito" with radars capable of operating at low altitude, everything fell into place.
In general, "Mosquito" NF showed that in a night battle it is capable of fighting any enemy aircraft. Even the newest twin-engine Me-410, which were designed precisely as a response to the Mosquito, became its victims.
No wonder the Mosquito became the RAF's most massive night fighter.
Douglas P-70 Nighthawk
Yes, we fly overseas. And there … And there everything was not very interesting. There were no specialized night fighters in the United States before the war. For lack of goals. The Americans decided to fill the gap in the English manner - by remaking a high-speed twin-engine bomber. At the same time, they carefully studied the British experience, fortunately, there was something to study.
The attack aircraft A-20 was taken as a basis. We assigned it the designation P-70 and began to rework it. The bomb holders and defensive weapons were dismantled, and a new unglazed nose part was made for the aircraft without a navigator's cabin. The navigator, respectively, was removed. Instead of the navigator and the rear gunner, a radar operator's workplace was created.
Since the Americans did not have their own radars yet, they installed the British AI Mk IV, which was placed partly in the former bomb bay, partly in the nose. A gondola with four 20-mm cannons was suspended under the former bomb bay. Ammunition was 60 rounds per barrel.
During tests, the aircraft showed a maximum speed of 526 km / h and a service ceiling of 8600 m. The first was acceptable, the second was not very good, but the American command still had no choice, and the P-70 was launched into mass production.
In general, it is a little unclear with whom the US Air Force was going to fight in the night, but nevertheless, the plane went into production. And then came the war with Japan as if ordered.
In 1943, on the basis of the A-20S, they created something like a modification of the P-70A-1. They installed a domestic radar, and the guns in the gondola were replaced with six 12.7 mm machine guns.
But the fight did not work out very well. Precisely because there was no one to fight with.
Four squadrons armed with P-70s were sent to North Africa in 1943. But there they were not useful: the British provided the Americans with their more advanced "Beaufighters", in which everything was in order both with speed and with the ceiling. So in North Africa and Italy, the P-70s did not fight at all.
Three squadrons of night lights operated in the Pacific Ocean. But even there, the battles were sad. The A-70 crews tried to fly to intercept single Japanese night bombers, but the Japanese often managed to leave, taking advantage of the speed advantage. So the Japanese aircraft shot down by night fighters could be counted on one hand.
Douglas A-20 Havoc
Worthy of a mention. This is still the same A-20, but in a British rework. It appeared even earlier than the A-70 Nighthawk. These aircraft received the A. I. Mk. IV, a battery of 8.303 Browning machine guns in the nose instead of the bombardier's cockpit, the defensive armament was removed, the crew was reduced to 2 people, while the rear gunner began to serve the onboard radar.
The maximum speed was 510 km / h, the practical range was 1610 km, the service ceiling was 7230 m. A total of 188 units of "Hewoks" were produced.
In general, the A-20 did not make a good night fighter. Even specially modified vehicles operated more successfully as attack aircraft. And in this form, they ended the war.
Northrop P-61B Black Widow
And finally, and "Black Widow". A very extraordinary plane. This miracle appeared with a turret from a tank at the top of the fuselage in 1943, when there were still doubts about the need for a night fighter, so the P-61 went into series. And he became the first specially designed night fighter.
But in general, only the first 37 of 45 P-61A-1s were equipped with dorsal turrets with four machine guns, the rest of the turrets were no longer installed.
Basically, the R-61 was used in the Pacific Ocean, where the Japanese did not fly at night, and then they ended up altogether. Therefore, when the US Air Force gained superiority in the sky, "Black Widows" began to be used to attack ground targets even in the daytime.
Fortunately, there was something.
But the most important combat mission of the P-61 was to protect the bases of the B-29 strategic bombers on Saipan from night raids. They also defended damaged B-29s returning from raids on Japan from fighter attacks.
A number of Black Widows went to Britain, where they worked as V-1 interceptors. Moreover, quite successfully, despite the fact that the speed of the V-1 was somewhat superior to the P-61, but the crews of the Black Widows climbed to the maximum height, from where they dived, developing a speed sufficient to catch up with the V-1.
The maximum speed at an altitude of 5000 m was 590 km / h, a practical range of 665, a service ceiling of 10 100 m.
Crew of 3 people, a pilot, a radar operator and a gunner, who mainly performed the tasks of a visual observer.
Armament: four 20-mm cannons and four 12, 7-mm machine guns. Bomb load up to 1450 kg on two attachments under the wings. Plus the SCR-540 radar.
A total of 742 aircraft of all modifications were produced.
Unofficially, the "Black Widow" bears the title of "the end of the war": on the night of August 14-15, 1945, after the Japanese proposal to conclude a truce, the P-61B with the name "Lady in the Dark" of the 548th night squadron won an air battle victory over Ki-43 Hayabusa, whose pilot might not have heard of the ceasefire. This was the last Allied air victory in World War II.
In general, the resulting extremely strong aircraft served until 1952, after which many "Widows" were used as fire protection aircraft.
Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu
Why the Japanese thought about creating a night fighter is hard to say. But in 1939 they got a plane that eerily resembles the Bf 110. In fact, Japanese specialists have once again successfully worked on a foreign model, and this is how our hero, Ki-45, appeared.
The aircraft turned out … similar to its German contemporary Bf 110. All the same weak capabilities as a long-range fighter, only the armament is even weaker than that of the German. One 20mm cannon and two 7, 7 machine guns are not enough.
But, like all Japanese aircraft, the Ki-45 was very easy to fly and had good maneuverability. And the presence of protected tanks in general made it perfect in the eyes of the pilots. And, by the way, at the beginning of the war, in collisions with the P-38, the Japanese aircraft demonstrated complete superiority in maneuverability over the American aircraft.
Ki-45 went through the entire war, but we are interested in its night version, that is, Ki-45 Kai-Tei (or otherwise Ki-45 Kai-d).
The maximum speed is 540 km / h, the practical range is 2000 km, the ceiling is 10,000 m.
Armament: one 37-mm No-203 cannon (16 rounds) in the nose, one 20-mm No-3 cannon (100 rounds) in the ventral mount, one 7, 92-mm Type 98 machine gun in the rear cockpit of the shooter.
A total of 477 aircraft of all versions were built.
Subsequently, the machine gun was removed, and instead of the gunner, the operator of the Taki-2 radar station was placed. In this configuration, the aircraft became a real threat to American bombers. The trouble is that, having secured air superiority during the day, the Americans did not fly at night …
We can talk for a long time about the strengths and weaknesses of the "dragon slayer" (this is how its name is translated), but you can only notice that this aircraft (in all modifications, both day and night) was extremely reluctant to be used as a kamikaze delivery vehicle.
In general, speaking of night fighters, I would conclude that as a class they developed only in Germany. Perhaps solely thanks to the British, who did not abandon the practice of night raids on German cities. In the air forces of the rest of the participating countries, night fighters remained models for testing equipment and tactics of use.
However, the search radar, used precisely on night fighters, subsequently received registration in general on all classes of military aircraft, without exception. So it can be said that night fighters were the first step towards a versatile all-weather aircraft capable of operating in both day and night conditions.
In the final part, we will deal with comparisons of night fighters, their flight performance and combat merit and capabilities.
