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Ahh...gotcha, but the A-26 Invader would have made a good dedicated Night fighter had it made it into the war sooner.
It was used on night interdiction missions in Europe from late summer 1944 onwards, with the 9th AF.
Northrop P-61 Black Widow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The P-61 didn't enter operational service until May 1944. When it did enter service max speed was 366mph @ 20,000 feet. That's about 20 mph slower then a Me-410 light bomber operating at 20,000 feet and the Me-410 entered service over a year earlier. The P-61 would also have a tough time catching late war versions of the Ju-88 and Ju-188.
Speed clearly was not a priority for the P-61 night fighter.
So German bombers flew 'all out' when fully loaded? Even German fighters could not do their max speed continually except for 10 minutes.
Northrop P-61 Black Widow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The P-61 didn't enter operational service until May 1944. When it did enter service max speed was 366mph @ 20,000 feet. That's about 20 mph slower then a Me-410 light bomber operating at 20,000 feet and the Me-410 entered service over a year earlier. The P-61 would also have a tough time catching late war versions of the Ju-88 and Ju-188.
Speed clearly was not a priority for the P-61 night fighter.
What do you mean by "large additional numbers"? Only 691 P-61s were produced during 1943 to 1945 and the aircraft didn't even reach deployed combat units until May 1944.production lines for the Mosquite would have been hard pressed to supply large additional numbers to the US
By comparison 7,781 Mosquitos were built including 1,133 in Canada. Give the P-61 program money to De Havilland and I suspect they would deliver 700 Mosquitos to the U.S. long before Northrop could deliver 691 of the inferior P-61s.
And the wings didn't come unglued in the Pacific. That should count for something. 8)
They did as far as they could during the mini blitz in early 1944 when London was the target. Bombers used to climb high over France and then go in a slight dive to the target and head for home. Note the term bombers is a little loose as they included Fw 190.
It made them very difficult to catch.
From take off to altitude they were very slow.
Why not?
Serious money was spent to design the P-61 and build the P-61 assembly line. Without the P-61 program that money goes to De Havilland to expand production. Northrop could possibly even get the airframe contract, building the Mosquito under license. Now you've got an American built airframe powered by American built engines. Just like the P-51 fighter which was also British designed. Weapons, avionics etc. could be American made. Just like the P-51.
With the British involvement the turret is easier to understand