Role
Medium bomber
Attack aircraft
Night fighter
National origin United States
Manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company
First flight 23 January 1939
Introduction 10 January 1941
Retired (USAF) 1949
Primary users United States Army Air Forces
Soviet Air Force
Royal Air Force
French Air Force
Produced 1939–1944
Number built 7,478
Developed into Douglas DC-5
It served with several Allied air forces, principally the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the Soviet Air Forces (VVS), Soviet Naval Aviation (AVMF), and the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom. A total of 7,478 aircraft were built, of which more than a third served with Soviet units. It was also used by the air forces of Australia, South Africa, France, and the Netherlands during the war, and by Brazil afterwards.
In March 1936, a design team headed by Donald Douglas, Jack Northrop, and Ed Heinemann produced a proposal for a bomber-reconnaissance aircraft powered by a pair of 450 hp (340 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior 9-cylinder radial engines mounted on a shoulder wing. It was estimated to be capable of 250 mph (400 km/h) with a 680 lb (310 kg) bomb load. Reports of aircraft performance from the Spanish Civil War indicated that this design would be seriously underpowered, and it was canceled.
In 1937, the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) issued a new specification for an attack aircraft. To meet this requirement, the Douglas team, now headed by Heinemann, developed the Model 7B, with a similar layout to the 7A, but was powered by 1,100 hp (820 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C3-G Twin Wasp 14-cylinder engines, and carried a bombload of up to 2,000 lb (910 kg). It faced competition from the North American NA-40, Stearman X-100, Martin 167F, and an unbuilt design from Bell Aircraft, the Model 9. The Air Corps invited all five companies to build prototypes at their own expense and to submit sealed bids for production of their aircraft.Ceiling
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The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II.
Flown by the Allies in the Pacific, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Russia, the versatile A-20 went through many variants.
In 1937, the United States Army Air Corps wanted to acquire increased firepower, both in terms of ground bombing and support