The experience of the successful Douglas A-20 was a feat of the Douglas Aircraft Company to create an improved aircraft that would combine the characteristics of a day attack aircraft and a medium bomber. The aircraft was supposed to replace not only the A-20, but also the North American B-25 Mitchell and Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers, which were in service with the Army Air Corps. Development of the A-26 began as a private initiative by Douglas at the El Segundo plant in El Segundo, California.
Already in the fall of 1940, Douglas specialists began developing a draft aircraft design, which was created on the basis of a USAAF memorandum, which listed all the shortcomings of the A-20. The Bomber Division of the Experimental Technical Department at Wright Field, Ohio, assisted in these developments, also pointing out a number of aircraft deficiencies, including lack of crew interchangeability, inadequate defensive and offensive weapons, and long take-off and roll-off distances.
A-20
The aircraft had a lot in common with the A-20 Havoc model, which was at that time in service with the US Army Air Force and supplied to the Allies. The project was a twin-engine aircraft with a mid-wing laminar profile. The wing was equipped with electrically controlled double-slotted flaps. To give the vehicle a streamlined shape and reduce takeoff weight, the defensive armament was concentrated in the upper and lower remote-controlled turrets, which were controlled by a gunner located at the rear of the fuselage. In the design of the new aircraft, some of the features that have been tested on the A-20 have found application. As on the A-20, the A-26 used a tricycle landing gear with a nose strut, retracted by means of a hydraulic drive, and the nose strut was retracted with a 90-degree turn. The main landing gear was retracted into the tail section of the engine nacelles. The aircraft had a large bomb bay in the fuselage capable of accommodating up to 3,000 pounds of bombs or two torpedoes. In addition, the aircraft was supposed to be equipped with external underwing points for hanging bombs or for installing additional weapons. The aircraft was supposed to be equipped with two 18-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engines Pratt & Whitney R-2800-77 with a takeoff power of 2000 hp.
Protection against enemy aircraft was provided by upper and lower remote-controlled turrets. Each installation housed two 12.7 mm machine guns. The fire from both installations was led by the shooter, who was in a special compartment behind the bomb bay.
It was planned in advance to manufacture the aircraft in two versions: a daytime three-seater bomber with a transparent nose, where the navigator / bombardier was located, and a two-seater night fighter with a metal nose, where the small arms and radar antenna were located. The two versions were essentially identical except for the bow.
After the development of the drawings, work began on the construction of a full-size model. Air Corps officials inspected the mock-up between 11 and 22 April 1941 and the War Department authorized the production of two prototypes under the new designation A-26 on 2 June. The aircraft received the name "Invader" - "Invader" (the same name had the North American A-36 (variant of the P-51), which was used in the Mediterranean theater of operations).
The first aircraft was a three-seat attack bomber with a transparent nose for the navigator / bombardier and was designated XA-26-DE. The second aircraft was a two-seat night fighter and was designated XA-26A-DE. Three weeks later, the contract was amended to include the production of a third prototype under the designation XA-26B-DE. The third sample was a three-seat attack aircraft equipped with a 75 mm cannon in a metal nose casing. All three prototypes were to be manufactured at the Douglas plant in El Segundo. As a result, each prototype had the letters -DE added to the designation, which indicated the manufacturer.
A-26C
The project experienced some delays due to various, often conflicting, USAAF requirements. The USAAF could not come to a final decision between a daytime bomber with a transparent nose cone, an attack aircraft with a hard nose shroud with a 75 mm or 37 mm cannon, and an attack aircraft with a battery of heavy machine guns in the nose, covered with a metal fairing. The USAAF initially required the installation of a 75mm bow cannon on all 500 aircraft ordered, but soon changed their minds and demanded that Douglas develop a clear nose day bomber (designated A-26C) while developing the A-26B attack aircraft in parallel.
A-26B
Work on the three prototypes progressed rather slowly, especially considering that the United States was already involved in the war (the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor took place a little over a month after receiving an army contract). The first prototype was ready only in June 1942.
The prototype XA-26-DE (serial number 41-19504), powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-27 engines with a takeoff power of 2000 hp, located in large underwing nacelles, made its maiden flight on July 10, 1942 under the control of test pilot Ben Howard. The engines rotated three-blade variable-pitch propellers with large fairings. The maiden flight went smoothly, prompting Howard to inform the United States Army Air Corps that the plane was ready for its duties. Unfortunately, his enthusiastic assessment was unrealistic, and about two more years passed before the A-26 entered service.
The crew consisted of three people - the pilot, the navigator / bombardier (he usually sat in the folding seat to the right of the pilot, but also had a seat in the transparent bow) and the gunner, who sat in a compartment behind the bomb bay under the transparent fairing. In the initial phase of flight tests, protective weapons were absent. Instead, dummy dorsal and ventral turrets were installed.
The flight characteristics turned out to be high, but during the tests some difficulties arose, the most serious of which was the problem of overheating of the engines. The problem was solved by removing the large propeller cocks and minor changes in the shape of the hoods. These changes were immediately implemented on the production version of the aircraft.
Armament originally consisted of two forward-facing 12.7 mm machine guns mounted on the starboard side of the fuselage in the bow and two 12.7 mm machine guns in each of the two remotely controlled turrets. Turret mounts were used by the shooter only to protect the tail. The firing sector in this case was limited by the trailing edges of the wings. The upper turret was usually serviced by the gunner, but it could be fixed towards the nose of the aircraft with zero elevation, in which case the pilot fired from the mount. Up to 900 kg could be accommodated in two compartments inside the fuselage. bombs, another 900 kg could be placed at four points under the wings.
As a result of all the delays from the first flight of the prototype to the full-scale participation in the hostilities of the A-26, 28 months passed.
LTH A-26S
Crew, people 3
Length, meters 15, 62
Wingspan, meters 21, 34
Height, meters 5, 56
Wing area, m2 50, 17
Empty weight, kg 10365
Curb weight, kg 12519
Maximum takeoff weight, kg 15900
Power plant 2xR-2800-79 "Double Wasp"
Power, h.p., kW 2000 (1491)
Cruising speed, km / h 570
Maximum speed km / h, m 600
Rate of climb, m / s 6, 4
Wing loading, kg / 2 250
Thrust-to-weight ratio, W / kg 108
Range with max bomb load, km 2253
Practical range, km 2300
Practical ceiling, m 6735
Armament, machine guns, 6x12, 7 mm
Bomb load, kg 1814
The appearance of the "Inweider" subsequently changed little. There were only three options: the KhA-26 (later A-26S) - a bomber with a glazed nose for the navigator-bombardier, A-26A - a night fighter with a radar in the bow and four ventral 20-mm cannons, and A-26B - an attack aircraft with opaque nose. The night fighter was in production for a short time, but bombers and attack aircraft were massively built on Douglas assembly lines in Long Beach, California, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Heavily armored and capable of carrying up to 1,814 kg of bombs, the A-26, with a maximum speed of 571 km / h at an altitude of 4,570 m, was the fastest Allied bomber in World War II. Approximately 1,355 A-26B attack aircraft and 1,091 A-26C bombers were built.
The A-26V had very powerful armament: six 12.7 mm machine guns in the bow (later their number was increased to eight), remotely controlled upper and lower turrets, each with two 12.7 mm machine guns, and up to 10 or more 12, 7-mm machine guns in underwing and ventral containers.
Unlike the Skyrader attack aircraft, which was also created at the Douglas firm, the A-26 Invader managed to take part in World War II.
Launched in September 1944 with the 553rd Bomber Squadron based in Great Dunmow, England, and soon to appear in France and Italy as well, the Invader began air strikes against the Germans even before manufacturing defects were fixed.
The pilots were delighted with the maneuverability and ease of control, but the A-26 had an unnecessarily complex and tiring instrument panel, as well as a weak, easily destroyed front landing gear. The cockpit canopy was difficult to open when leaving the vehicle in an emergency.
Over time, these problems have been resolved.
Modifications introduced to the production A-26B (new cockpit canopy, more powerful engines, increased fuel capacity and other modifications) were also introduced to the A-26C. Starting with the C-30-DT series, they began to install a new cockpit canopy, and from the C-45-DT series, the R-2800-79 engines with a water-methanol injection system appeared on the aircraft, six 12.7 mm machine guns in the wings, fuel tanks of increased volume and it became possible to suspend unguided rockets under the wings.
In the European theater of operations, the Inveders flew 11,567 sorties and dropped 18,054 tons of bombs. The A-26 was quite capable of standing up for itself when meeting enemy fighters. Major Myron L Durkee of the 386th Bomber Group in Bumont (France) chalked up a "likely victory" on February 19, 1945, over the pride of German aviation, the Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter. In Europe, for various reasons, about 67 invaders were lost, but the A-26 has seven confirmed victories in aerial battles.
In the Pacific Ocean "Invader" also showed its high efficiency. With a speed at sea level of at least 600 km / h, the Invader was a powerful weapon for assault attacks on land and sea targets. As a bomber, after appropriate modifications, the A-26 also began to replace the North American B-25 Mitchell in some parts.
The A-26 aircraft were in service with the 3rd, 41st and 319th bombing groups of US aviation in operations against Formosa, Okinawa and the territory of Japan itself. The "Iniders" were active near Nagasaki before the second atomic bomb demolished that city.
After the victory over Japan, the aircraft, which may have appeared too late in the war, was based at many Far Eastern air bases, including Korea. Many vehicles were modified for other tasks: the SV-26V transport aircraft, the TV-26V / C training aircraft, the VB-26B command vehicle, the EB-26C guided missile test vehicle and the RB-26B / C reconnaissance aircraft appeared.
In June 1948, the category of attack aircraft (Attack) was eliminated and all A-26s were reclassified into B-26 bombers. After the not very successful bomber "Martin" B-26 "Marauder" was removed from service, the letter "B" in the designation passed to the "Inveder ".
The Inveiders made up for their very limited participation in World War II over the next 20 years. The real recognition came to this aircraft in Korea.
At the time of the outbreak of the war, there was only one US Air Force 3rd Bomber Group (3BG), armed with Invader aircraft, in the Pacific theater of operations. She was based at the Iwakuni airfield in the southern part of the Japanese Islands. Initially, it consisted of only two squadrons: 8th (8BS) and 13th (13BS). The first combat sortie of the aircraft of these units was scheduled for June 27, 1950. It was assumed that the "Invaders" will strike the enemy together with the B-29 heavy bombers. But the weather over the sea did not allow the planes to take off, and the flight was postponed. The weather improved the next day, and in the early morning 18 B-26s from 13BS took off. Having gathered over the sea, they headed for Pyongyang. The target of the strike was the airfield on which the North Korean fighters were based. On it, the bombers were met by anti-aircraft batteries, but their fire was not highly accurate. The "invaders" rained down high-explosive fragmentation bombs on the parking lots of Yak-9 aircraft and airfield structures. Several planes tried to take off to repel the attack. One fighter immediately fell under a barrage of machine-gun fire from a diving B-26 and crashed to the ground. The second, seeing the death of a comrade, disappeared into the clouds. After the bombing, aerial reconnaissance found that 25 aircraft were destroyed on the ground, a fuel depot and airfield structures were blown up. The debut of "Inweider" was successful.
But it was not without losses, on June 28, 1950 at 13 hours 30 minutes, the four North Korean Yak-9 attacked the Suwon airfield. As a result, the B-26 bomber was destroyed. This aircraft turned out to be the first "Inweider" lost during the outbreak of the war.
The air superiority gained by the Americans in the early days of the war made it possible for the Invaders to fly on missions at any time convenient for them, without fear of encounters with enemy fighters. However, the official American reports on the losses of the North Korean aircraft were too optimistic. Fighter aircraft of North Korea continued to exist. On July 15, 1950, B-26 bombers were attacked by two Yak-ninths. One of the "Invaders" was seriously damaged and barely made it to his airfield. Three days later, the airfield of the successful Yaks was discovered and a group of Shooting Star jet fighters was sent to destroy it. The small firepower of the F-80s, which took off from Japan, did not allow the airfield to be completely destroyed, and on July 20, the Inweaders appeared over it, completing the job. The runway and more than a dozen fighters were destroyed.
In the critical days of the war, the main task of the "Invaders" was considered to be the direct support of the retreating troops. Two squadrons of vehicles were clearly not enough for this. To reinforce the 3BG in August 1950, the US Air Force began training and manning the 452nd Reserve Bomber Group. Only in October, the group flew to Japan at the Milo air base. It included the 728, 729, 730 and 731 Reserve Squadrons of the United States Air Force. By this time, the situation at the front had radically changed, and the B-26 was no longer required to cover the retreating units, because the front line approached the Chinese border.
The appearance of the Soviet MiG-15 had a strong influence on the further tactics of using the Inweders. It became dangerous to fly during the day, and the B-26 switched mainly to night operations. At the same time, the era of group raids ended. The "pair" became the main combat unit. Every evening, the planes took to the air with the sole purpose of destroying the enemy's communications and preventing him from supplying his troops by rail and road. In other words, the B-26 flew to isolate the combat area. After June 5, 1951, the B-26 began to take an active part in the operation, "Strangle" ("Strangulation"). In accordance with the plan of the operation, a conditional strip of one degree wide was drawn across the Korean Peninsula, crossing the narrowest part of the peninsula. All roads passing within this strip were divided between the branches of aviation. The Air Force "invaders" received the western section of the strip north of Pyongyang at their disposal. Targets were detected visually: locomotives and cars - by lighted headlights and lights, and repair teams on the tracks - by fires and lanterns. Initially, the Invaders managed to catch the enemy by surprise, and every night brought the Koreans crashed trains and burning convoys. Then the North Koreans began to set up early warning posts on the hills adjacent to the roads. The sound of an airplane flying indicated the need to extinguish the lights or suspend work. In especially important places, a dozen anti-aircraft guns were added to the warning posts. American losses from anti-aircraft fire increased sharply, and the effectiveness of the raids fell. Instead of striking pre-selected targets, the pilots preferred less dangerous free-hunting flights.
The warehouses and docks of this important eastern port bore the brunt of the destructive bombs dropped by the B-26 Invader in 1951 in Wonsan.
At the end of 1951, a special unit, the 351st Fighter Aviation Regiment of Night Interceptors, appeared as part of the Soviet aviation units stationed in China. He was based in Anshan. The regiment's pilots flew on La-11 piston fighters. The absence of a search radar on board the aircraft complicated the search for targets, and the fighters were directed by radio from ground-based radar posts, which were available only in the Andong area. This circumstance severely limited the area of operations of night bombers. However, their first casualty was the Invader night bomber. Senior Lieutenant Kurganov chalked up the victory.
During the war, there were times when the Invaders also had to act as night interceptors. So, on the night of June 24, 1951, a B-26 from the 8th squadron of 3VS, flying over its territory, found a Po-2 light bomber right in front of it. Probably, the Koreans were returning from the bombing of the American K-6 airbase (Suwon). The week before, Po-2s had inflicted heavy casualties on the US Air Force, destroying about 10 F-86 fighters in Suwon. The B-26V pilot was not taken aback and fired a volley from all onboard weapons. Po-2 exploded.
In 1951, several B-26 Pathfinder aircraft with radars appeared at the front. The Pathfinder radar could detect small moving targets such as locomotives and trucks. They began to be used as leaders of strike groups and target designation aircraft. The navigator was in charge of operating the radar in flight. Having found the target, he gave commands to the pilot if the Pathfinder acted as the leader, or directed the strike group to the target by radio. The last B-26 sortie in Korea was made on July 27, 1953.
In total, during the Korean War, B-26 aircraft performed 53,000 sorties, of which 42,400 - at night. As a result, according to American data, the Invaders destroyed 39,000 cars, 406 steam locomotives and 4,000 railroad cars.
It would seem that the active development of jet aircraft should have contributed to the rapid withdrawal of piston "Inweders", but during this period the aircraft began to be actively used in other countries, and almost everyone used it in combat. French cars fought in Indochina in the late 40s and early 50s, Indonesian ones were used against partisans. A little later, the French were also forced to use aircraft for counter-guerrilla operations in Algeria. Perhaps this is what prompted the American company "On Mark Engineering" to develop the "Inweider", turning it into a specialized machine for fighting partisans. The main efforts were aimed at improving weapons, increasing the combat load and improving take-off and landing characteristics. In February 1963, a prototype of a new modification of the B-26K took off, and after successful tests, from May 1964 to April 1965, 40 vehicles were refitted. The main differences between these aircraft were the more powerful (2800 hp) R-2800-103W engines, 8 machine guns of 12.7 mm in the bow, underwing pylons for the suspension of weapons (the total load increased to almost 5 tons - 1814 kg in the bomb bay and 3176 kg under the wing) and additional fuel tanks at the wing tips. The crew was reduced to two people. Defensive weapons have been eliminated.
Soon, the B-26K was already at war in South Vietnam, thus combining the era of the best piston aircraft with third-generation jet engines.
In the spring of 1966, it was decided to deploy the B-26K in Southeast Asia to counter the offensive of troops led by Ho Chi Minh from North Vietnam to Laos. Since northeastern Thailand was much closer to the proposed theater of operations in southern Laos than bases in South Vietnam, the US government decided to place the B-26K there. However, in the mid-60s, Thailand did not allow the basing of bombers on its territory, and in May 1966 the aircraft were returned to the old designation of the A-26A attack aircraft.
The A-26A, deployed in Southeast Asia, was assigned to 606th Air Commando Squadron in Thailand. In combat, the aircraft of this squadron were known as the Lucky Tiger. Formation A-26A from Air Commando 603 Squadron was officially known as Detachment 1 and stayed in Thailand for six months. Since the actions in Laos were unofficial, the A-26A based in Southeast Asia did not carry national insignia. The long, narrow ledge of Laos along Vietnam's northern border became known as the Steel Tiger and became the primary target of the A-26A.
Most of the A-26A sorties in Laos took place at night, as the North Vietnamese air defense system made the daytime sorties of slow piston-engined aircraft too risky. Trucks were one of the main targets of Counter Invader. Occasionally, the A-26A was equipped with an AN / PVS2 Starlight night vision device. Most of the aircraft were equipped with opaque bows, but on several sorties the aircraft carried glass bows. By December 1966, the A-26A had destroyed and damaged 99 trucks.
By specification, the A-26A could carry a maximum combat load of 8,000 pounds on underwing pylons and 4,000 pounds on internal suspensions. However, to improve maneuverability and reduce the load on the aircraft structure during sorties, the payload was usually somewhat. Typical combat payloads were underwing pylons suspension of two SUU-025 containers with flares, two LAU-3A containers with missiles, and four CBU-14 cluster bombs. Later, SUU-025 and LAU-3A were often replaced by BLU-23 containers with 500 pounds of napalm feathered bombs or a similar BLU-37 container with 750 pounds of bombs. It was also possible to carry M31 and M32 incendiary bombs, M34 and M35 incendiary bombs, M1A4 fragmentation bombs, M47 white phosphorus bombs and CBU-24, -25, -29 and -49 cluster bombs. In addition, the aircraft could carry 250-pound Mk.81 multipurpose bombs, 500-pound Mk.82 and 750-pound M117 bombs.
The night missions of the A-26A were gradually taken over by combat helicopters, the AC-130A and AC-130E and Counter Invader aircraft were gradually withdrawn from combat by November 1969. During the fighting, 12 of the 30 aircraft based in Thailand were shot down.
The Douglas A-26 (later redesignated B-26) The Invader was one of the most prominent American daytime twin-engine bombers of the Second World War. Despite the fact that the aircraft began to enter service with the units only in the spring of 1944, it became widely known in the last war months during a number of operations in the European and Pacific theaters of operations. After the war, the Invader remained in significant numbers in the US Air Force and was used extensively during the Korean War. Subsequently, the aircraft was used in both stages of the Vietnam conflict: first by the French Air Force, and then by the American. Although the last Invaders were retired from the US Air Force in 1972, several other countries continued to use them for several years. Invaders have also been used in a number of minor armed conflicts and have been used in several covert operations, including the abortive landing in Cuba's Bay of Pigs in 1961.
A-26 was in service with 20 countries: France, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Laos, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Portugal, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and South Vietnam. It was only after 1980 that the “war paint” was finally removed from this aircraft, and now it can be seen exclusively in museums and private collections. Several dozen A-26s are still in flight condition and are permanent participants in various air shows.
