After the Lend-Lease Act made available more funds for Britain, 575 more were ordered June 17, 1941. Since lend-lease aircraft were purchased by the United States government, they had AAF designations, including the Douglas A-20C Boston, the Lockheed A-28 and A-29 Hudsons, Martin A-30 Baltimore, and Vultee A-31 Vengence. (As the Hudsons were actually maritime patrol types, not attack planes, they are discussed in Chapter 20.)
The A-30 began appearing in August 1942, with two .50-caliber guns in a Martin power turret replacing the hand-held dorsal guns, and bomb bay ferry tanks so they could be ferried across the South Atlantic to Accra. The 281 Baltimore IIIA models were followed, beginning January 1943, by 294 Baltimore IV (A-30A-l/5). Six hundred Baltimore Vs (A-30A-10/30) with 1,700-hp Wright R-2600-29 Cyclones were ordered September 23, 1942, and delivery began by July 1943. Wing guns were now also of .50-caliber.
When production ended in May 1944, 1,575 Baltimores had been built, 78 had been lost before or during flight deliveries to Africa, and the last one was retained by the U.S. Navy for tests. All combat missions were flown in the Mediterranean area. Besides ten RAF and three South African squadrons, Baltimores also served a Greek squadron in 1944, and became the last bomber used by the Italian Air Force when 34 were supplied to a unit of the Co-Belligerent Air Force from November 1944 to May 1945. Although neutral, Turkey also received 72 Baltimore Vs, beginning in August 1944, while 12 were given in 1945 to a French squadron in Syria.