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I guess it depends on mission requirements. If the US wanted a "bomber" to carry 4000lbs of bombs 500 miles from base and return then the A-20 Doesn't qualify. IF a bomber is is any plane that carries bombs and a bombadier then it does.
Not really, you only needed one or two planes per group with "glass" noses and bomb aimers. The Americans were big on formation bombing. All planes bomb on signal from "lead" plane.
Same plane is a low level straffer today and medium altitude bomber with a range of hundreds of miles tommorrow, all without changing a thing on the plane. talk about versitile
Right observation but if "bombardier" planse were shoot down? This is possibiel only in the actual situation with air superiority as the US in late WWII
A bunch in the Philippines until F.E.A.F. was wiped out.how many low level attack missions did the US fly in 1941?
Colin Purdie Kelly, Jr. (July 11, 1915 – December 10, 1941) was a World War II B-17 Flying Fortress pilot who flew bombing runs against the Japanese navy in the first days after the Pearl Harbor attack. He is remembered as a war hero for sacrificing his own life to save his crew when his plane became the first American B-17 to be shot down in combat. Colin Kelly has been called the first American hero of the Second World War.
A bunch in the Philippines until F.E.A.F. was wiped out.
If Cpt. Kelly had been flying an A-20 ILO a B-17 he would have a better chance to hit the target and evade Japanese fighter aircraft. The same goes for bombing missions conducted in defense of the Dutch East Indies during early 1942, defense of Midway during June 1942 etc.
MacArthur had no choice until mid-1941 because until then he wasn't even in the US Army.Too late to do any good. That was Gen MacArthur's choice as he established the priority for shipment of army equipment in the Pacific. His historical priority was B-17 heavy bombers but it could have been A-20s as there were plenty available by mid 1941.
A-20 Aircraft Production.
A-20
USAFFE can ask for the next 150 A-20s to roll out of the factory and they will be his. They will be assigned to two of the bombardment groups heading to the Philippines ILO B-17s. USAFFE now has two light bombardment groups ILO the historical two heavy bombardment groups. Logistical support for these units is significanly less then for heavy bombardment groups so some shipping is made available for other stuff also. Perhaps the 54 x A-24 (i.e. SBD) dive bombers of the 27th Light Bombardment Group will make it to Manila prior to December 1941 instead of being enroute at the time of the Japanese attack.