A-26B-10

A-26B-10

P-61C-1

A-26B-50

A-26B-10

P-61C-1

A-26B-50

USA

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.0	5.0	5.0

Class:

Strike aircraft

Research:46 000

Purchase:155 000

This page is about the American attacker A-26B-10. For other variants, see A-26 (Family).

Description

The A-26B-10 is a rank IV American attacker with a battle rating of 5.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.71 "New E.R.A.".

The A-26 Invader is an excellent ground attack aircraft, boasting 6 nose-mounted M2 Browning .50 cal machine guns, as well as a potential payload of up to 4,000 lbs worth of bombs (4 x 1,000 lbs). The Invader also sports two dual-M2 Browning machine gun turrets, remote controlled by a gunner located in the rear section of the aircraft, that flawlessly track aircraft transitioning in the vertical.

In addition, later upgrades of this particular A-26 model grant the user the ability to use a nose-mounted M4 37 mm cannon, at the expense of two of the .50 cals.

The Invader's strengths over many similar dual-engine aircraft is a surprising punch that it packs, especially when the 37 mm cannon is equipped, which can possibly turn the attacker into a fearsome, yet cumbersome blitzer due to its incredible speed.

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 4,573 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	554	541	8000	31.1	32.0	9.9	9.8	1,000
Upgraded	596	576		29.1	30.0	14.2	12.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	270	527	527	351	~6	~4

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 370	< 375	< 460	> 350

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
1,310 m	2,000 hp	No WEP
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,572 m	1,600 hp	No WEP

Survivability and armour

• 12.7 mm Steel - Nose plate
• 8 mm Steel - Under engine armour plate (each nacelle)
• 12.7 mm Steel - Fore/aft nacelle fuel protection plates x 2 (each nacelle)
• 12.7 mm Steel - Fore cockpit armour plate
• 9.5 mm Steel - Cockpit tub
• 9 mm Steel - Pilot/Co-pilot's seat backs
• 12.7 mm Steel - Gunner aft armour plate
• 12.7 mm Steel - Gunner lower armour plate
• 12.7 mm Steel - Aircraft tail armour plate
• 60 mm Bulletproof glass - Pilot

With this array of armour, the A-26B-10 is well-protected from any glancing rounds from machine guns.

As mentioned earlier, the A-26B-10 has the option to mount a 37 mm cannon in the nose. That in combination with its speed and additional four .50 cals in the nose will punish any opponent foolish enough to head on this aircraft. In addition, the rear of the aircraft is well defended by the two remote-controlled .50 cal turrets.

Thus, to fight an A-26, the best method of attack is to perform a Boom & Zoom run and aim for the engines. As fast as the A-26 is, it loses a fair deal of speed if one of the engines is out of action and, (if your aim is good enough), you may even snipe the gunner, leaving a massive blind spot from the rear of the Invader. If you find yourself in front of this plane, and there are no alternatives, aim for the cockpit only! This is as a result of the A-26 having both a pilot and a co-pilot, meaning if one is knocked out, the other can still take command of the plane. Nonetheless, the best possible angle to attack an Invader is from the sides, where the gunner cannot traverse the turrets.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The A-26B-10 is armed with:

• A choice between three presets:
  • 6 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, nose-mounted (400 rpg = 2,400 total)
  • 1 x 37 mm M4 cannon, nose-mounted (30 rpg) + 4 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, nose-mounted (400 rpg = 1,600 total)
  • 2 x 37 mm M4 cannons, nose-mounted (30 rpg = 60 total)

Suspended armament

The A-26B-10 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 16 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (1,600 lb total)
• 12 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs (3,000 lb total)
• 10 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (5,000 lb total)
• 4 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (4,000 lb total)

Defensive armament

The A-26B-10 is defended by:

• 2 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, dorsal turret (500 rpg = 1,000 total)
• 2 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, ventral turret (500 rpg = 1,000 total)

Usage in battles

Though the A-26B-10 Invader will suffer in combat versus more nimble single-engine fighters, it still has some tricks it can employ to eke out a victory in the skies. Due to all the offensive weaponry being mounted in the nose of the plane, it creates a rather dense cone of fire, similar to that of most heavy fighters. This enables the Invader to nearly guarantee either to destroy or critically damage any fighter greedy enough to head you on, even if they are armed with cannons. The A-26B-10 is a very resilient aircraft, similar to other dual-engine aircraft like the Beaufighter Mk 21. Because of this, the pilot of the Invader can allow his opponent to land some hits in exchange for coming in view of either the A-26's forward facing armaments, or of its two rear-facing turrets. Though M2 Brownings lack the stopping power of cannons such as the 23 mm NS-23 cannon, they are still capable of inflicting immense damage to enemy aircraft, lighting up fuel tanks and disabling key components like control surfaces. This can buy the pilot some breathing room, by forcing enemy fighters to return to base after coming under fire from the Invader's guns.

While the A-26 Invader is fast for its battle rating of 5.0, it will still be intercepted by almost any late models of aircraft such as the Bf 109 "Gustav" series, the Bf 109 K-4, almost any later model of the Fw 190, including the Focke-Wulf Ta 152 series. Any of the above-mentioned German aircraft will tear you apart due to all of them sporting the "Minengeschoß" shells.

Enemies worth noting:

Against the Russians, any of the La-7s or La-9s can and will be able to catch you. In addition, aircraft such as the Yak-9P or Yak-9UT, which wield both 20 mm and either a 37 mm or 45 mm will tear your plane to bits. While the Russians do not have cannons armed with the same round types as a German fighter does, the multitude of cannons they wield can make short work of you.

The British can also give you a run for your money. The most common adversary that could give you an issue is the Wyvern, due to its blistering speed and four 20 mm Hispano Mk. V cannons. In addition, a Tempest could also make quick work of you due to the same reasoning in firepower. While it is unlikely you will see any of the Griffon Spitfires, earlier models can still inflict a heavy amount of damage to your air frame.

One SPAA to worry about in Ground Realistic Battles is the Chinese ZSD63. Though it is hard to identify specific SPAA vehicles on the ground (especially when they are shooting tracers at the plane), if a ZSD63 can be identified, avoid it at all costs and do not attempt head-ons with it, ever. It can easily snap a wing off by causally putting a short burst in the A-26B-10's flight path. Don't even get close to it unless it is occupied with another friendly or if the A-26B-10 is equipped with a bomb that it can use. Some identifying features of the ZSD63 is its rather boxy and tall hull with a geometric turret sitting at the back, slightly similar to a Wirbelwind's. The firing manner is also distinctive: the sound and green tracers are very rapid, much like a buzz saw, but then it will remain silent for half a minute reloading. Note that an experienced ZSD player will hold its fire or shoot in single salvos with long halts between, making it look like that it's reloading. Armor piercing belt is recommended since their high penetration can tear through the ZSD's armor with ease and knock out its crews.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Auto control available	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 12 mm	M4/4-50	SBC-25
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 12 mm MGs	M4	SBC mk.I
III	Wings repair	Engine		Turret 12 mm	Offensive 37 mm	MBC mk.I
IV			Cover	New 12 mm MGs (turret)	New 37 mm cannons

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Respectable forward-facing armament
• Impressive secondary armament when compared to its counterparts
• Highly durable
• Fast
• Decent energy retention
• Two remote-controlled turrets
• Respectable climb rate for an attacker
• Can mount a cannon for either air targets or ground targets
• Pilot and co-pilot: if one is knocked out, the other can take command

Cons

• Not very manoeuvrable
• As fast as it is, it is slower when compared to single-engine fighters
• Large silhouette
• Fairly high repair cost
• Only one gunner. If he is unconscious, the rear of the aircraft is highly exposed

History

In the mid 1930’s Douglas Aircraft analyzed contemporaries like the Do 17 and Blenheim made them gamble on a fast, versatile, and maneuverable bomber.  The resulting world leading DB-7, A-20 attacker/bomber paid off in immediate orders from France and England if not initially from USA.  A great start, the pace of aircraft innovation only accelerated and Douglas knew its world leading design would soon be outdated.  Work began on a new design.

Master engineer Edward (Ed) Heinemann reassembled a team of Robert Donovan and Ted R. Smith from the A-20 program. Most import was aerodynamicist A.M.O. Smith who chose the innovative NACA 65-215 laminar flow airfoil that promised better top speed.  Laminar Flow was still radical technology at the time, the yet unproven Mustang Mk 1 was the only production aircraft using the technology.  To make this high speed wing also fly slowly for safe landing, a double slotted flaps system was created, the first production aircraft to use in what is now common in all modern jet liners.  The wing also was relatively high aspect ratio for long range performance.

Design features from its breakthrough A-20 design were carried into the A-26.  It is easy to spot the family resemblance of the nose gear, high wing, straight fuselage, and dihedral wing and tail. The easily replaceable nose unit, either a solid nose units to the glass bombardiers unit, was also carried over, the latter used a Norden M-9 bombsight.  The engines were also upgrade to the much more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800-27 Double Wasp fourteen-cylinder, double-row, radial air-cooled engines. Armaments were now standardized on the Colt-Browning ANM2.5 machine guns offensively mounted in all the versions nose.  All models had space in wing for ammo belts feeding up to four dual gun pods mounted underneath the wing.  Versatility was a key point and many other armament options were made, including large cannons and wing mounted bombs and rockets.  A-26’s could even carry two torpedoes, however there is no evidence it was ever used operationally.  Another key feature was the General Electric remote control turret top and bottom of the attacker, both controlled by a single crewman using a periscope sighting system (a year ahead of a similar system created by the Germans).

The ХА-26 prototype made its first flight on July 10, 1942. Mass production began in September 1943.  Parallel production lines started in Douglas, Long Beach (code DL) making the solid nose A-26B, and Douglas, Tulsa making the bombardier nose A-26C (but any could be easily swap nose in less than hour).  A total of 2,503 were built.

While praised by the pilots at home, its first trial by fire May 1944 over New Guinea was less enthusiastic mainly due to limited downward view and other issues soured the Pacific crews. Less than 4 months later missions in Europe received a completely different response where as a low alt level bomber it excelled at its operation and easily countered defending Luftwaffe with strong defenses or high speed. Over this time upgrades to the design came about, including a new canopy that improved pilot view with the А-26C-30-DT, and integrating six .50 machine guns into the wings starting with the А-26B-50-DL and А-26C-55-DT.

After WW2 ended only the A-26 was kept in active service, its performance securing its usefulness, but the designation changed to B-26 (causing the confusion with the name of the retired B-26 Marauder).  When the Korean war started in 1950 the underappreciated attacker suddenly became vital again, heavily employed in day and night attacks against North Korean forces.  Conflict did not end with Korea, so the B-26 was not needed elsewhere, but quirk of political nuance forced the name back to its A-26 so they could be used or sold overseas. 

In short, with continuing conflicts and numerous upgrades the A-26 was actively used decades after it first flew, with the last known military mission in 1977.

It was not done with “combat” missions then; however, being actively used to fight wild fires that ravaged parts of the US, Canada, and Australia, immortalized by the move “Always”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_M._O._Smith

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the A-26B-10 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #83 - Pages of History section at 10:27 discusses the Douglas A-26 Invader.

See also

Related development

• Douglas A-20 Havoc

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Bristol Brigand
• Junkers Ju 288
• North American B-25 Mitchell
• Tupolev Tu-2

External links

• [Vehicle Profile] Douglas A-26C

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