Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms By Flag By Year By Tag

Douglas P-70 Nighthawk

1942 WORLD WAR 2

History of the Douglas P-70 Nighthawk

In 1940, to meet its need for a dedicated night fighter, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAC) approached the Douglas A-20 Havoc/Boston light bomber modified for the role. Development began in 1942, and the series was not expected to have to fight for long, as the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, designed for night combat, would soon arrive in 1943. There are few notable markings - some never seen in combat. One XP-70 served as a production prototype to demonstrate the effectiveness of the modification, and the aircraft has since flown under the official designation P-70 "Nighthawk".

All P-70s were delivered by September 1942.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) first realized that the A-20 was a night fighter by installing the appropriate air-intercept radar and belly gun pods, converting the A-20 Havocs into night fighters. The naturally glazed nose section was painted/securely covered to wrap the radar kit, and an additional internal fuel tank was installed to extend the working range. USAAC followed, arming their A-20s and equipping them with local copies of British AI Mk IV radars (like the SCR-540). These planes also lost glass nose sections.

Some mounted ventral gun mounts with 4 x 20mm guns, while others used "nose" mounted 6 or 8 x .50 M2 Browning heavy machine guns - continuing the American reliance on machine gun weapons. 2 x .50 machine guns are mounted under the nose to fire tracer rounds for weapon laying.

In these forms, the radar suite was moved to the bomb bay. The armor protection of the original A-20 has been reduced to ease the operational burden of the P-70. It is assumed that such an aircraft does not need to undertake unnecessary protection for itself in its given role.

The Douglas A-20 airframe proved to be a solid choice for future missions. Its twin-engine configuration, especially over the open ocean, means the plane can fly with a single engine when needed. Multiple crew members spread the workload and help reduce pilot fatigue.

Cannon armament - or similar forward fire - is a requirement, considering that crews can only make at most one attack on an enemy target and are best at counting the first few rounds.

P-70 marked the original base Nighthawk with 59 copies. The P-70A-1 brand evolved from the production model A-20C, with 39 prototypes, and 65 P-70A-2s from the A-20G.

P-70B-1 is an A-20G-10-DO night fighter modification (single example), P-70B-2 are A-20G and A-20J variants for training future P-61 crews - these aircraft are equipped with Radar kits SCR-720 and SCR-729.

In practice, the P-70 proved to be a serviceable machine, but it was only used in the Pacific. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Island, a modified A-20 with radar has been stationed over California to prove the sound of the aircraft-radar combination. First delivered in April 1942, the P-70 had a machine gun head that could support 2,000 pounds of internal storage if needed. The A-1 followed in 1943, when night fighters were needed to fight predatory Japanese raiders.

While the P-70 lacked a lot in terms of full throttle speed and high altitude operation (lack of a supercharger), they offered a solution that initially proved not to be found. Its usefulness was limited with the arrival of the dedicated P-61 in 1944 and other types of modifications promising better results and performance.

All P-70s entered service from the front lines in early 1945, ending their service in WWII, and served as trainers until their final days. In fact, P-70 instructors trained about 485 men for the U.S. night fighter squadron.