Douglas A-20 Havoc ~ Military Aircraft & Armored Vehicles

The Douglas A-20 Havoc was a twin-engine attack aircraft and light bomber employed by the US Army Air Forces during World War II. In British service, it was designated Boston. Although it was not the fastest warplane in its class, it was rugged and could take up a lot of beating. It was also an efficient flying machine, especially when carrying out attack missions at low levels. It also handled well and pilots could fly it as if it were a fighter. By late 1944, it would partially be replaced by the Northrop P-61 Black Widow.

The A-20 Havoc had been designed by Jack Northrop and Edward Heinemann in 1938. The prototype, the Douglas DB-7, performed its first flight on January 23, 1939, and it would be introduced into US Army Air Forces service two years later on January 10, 1941. Nevertheless, the French Air Force had acquired 70 of them in December 1939. Thus, it was first used in combat by French pilots in May 1940, during the German invasion of France. Most of these aircraft were flown to North Africa, to Morocco, by the Free France pilots. Although it became renowned in American and British hands, it was the Soviet pilots who made good use of it, as the Red Army Air Force received 3,125 Havocs from the Americans.

Below, the first production Havoc, the A-20A version.

In service with the British RAF, the Douglas Boston was used both as a bomber and as a carrier for Turbinlite, which was a powerful search lite used to illuminate Luftwaffe bombers at night so that the RAF Hurricanes could intercept them. As the Douglas A-20 Havoc, the aircraft entered service as a heavily-armed attack bomber. Havocs of all versions saw a lot of action, operating in the Pacific as well as in the North African and European Theater. They strafed and bombed Japanese troops, and they also supplied vicious fire support to invading Allied forces during the Normandy landings in June 1944, attacking German defensive lines.

Technical Description

The Douglas A-20 Havoc was a three-seat, twin-engine, mid-high wing monoplane, with underslung engine nacelles. In order to give the pilot good visibility, the cockpit was fitted forward of the propeller arc. It had good handling at low levels and at landing. The aircraft was fitted with tricycle landing gear and it could take off and land from short runways.

The A-20 had a high-strength aluminum alloy, semi-monocoque fuselage, with its movable control surfaces being fabric-covered. The wing was also of all-metal construction, being built around a single spar and it consisted of six section or panels. The aircraft was made in a series of easily assembled substructures to enable its shipment in broken down form.

Specifications (A-20G)

Type: attack aircraft/light bomber

Length: 14.63 m (48 ft)

Wing Span: 18.69 m (61 ft)

Wing Area: 43.11 m2 (464 sq. ft.)

Height: 5.36 m (18 ft)

Powerplant: two Wright R-2800-23 Double Cyclone, radial piston engines, each producing 2,625 HP.

Maximum Speed: 546 km/h (340 mph)

Range: 1,754 km (1,087 miles)

Service Ceiling: 7,865 m ( 25,800 ft)

Crew: 3

Armament: six forward-firing 12.7mm (.50-cal) M2 Browning machine guns mounted in nose; two 12.7mm machine guns in dorsal turret at the back of cockpit; two 12.7-mm machine guns in ventral position.

The A-20B variant in flight in 1943.