One Aircraft, Three U.S. Wars

The Douglas A-26 Invader is a WWII era, American, twin-engined light-bomber and ground attack aircraft designed to meet a 1940 U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) requirement for multi-role light-bomber optimized for low-level and medium-altitude precision bombing attacks. The order called for an aircraft capable of carrying both a substantial bomb-load and a great deal of defensive armament.

The A-26 fit the USAAC’s specifications to a tee, being the first U.S. aircraft capable of carrying a truly large bomb-load—three-thousand-pounds internally and another two-thousand-pounds beneath its outer wing panels. What’s more, the plane was fast, tough, and able to accommodate a wide range of armaments. The confluence of offensive and defensive attributes made the A-26 both an effective bombing platform and a formidable ground-attack and support aircraft. The machine was so effective, in fact, that it remained in production from 1946 to 1965—in so doing, earning the distinction of being the only U.S. bomber to serve in the Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam. A limited number of highly modified United States Air Force aircraft served in Southeast Asia until 1969.

Powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp twin-row, 18-cylinder, air-cooled radial engines with individual displacements and power outputs of 2,800-cubic-inches and 2,100-horsepower respectively, the A-26—later models, anyway—was capable of outrunning even North American’s storied and swift P-51 Mustang.

The first production attack version of the A-26—after the prosaic fashion popularized by wartime exigencies—was dubbed the A-26B. The re-imagined aircraft boasted no fewer than six .50-caliber machine guns, with later iterations carrying as many as eight such guns in the machines’ noses, underwing “blisters,” and dorsal and ventral turrets.

The A-26 made its combat debut in July 1944, serving in the vicinity of the Pacific Island of New Guinea with the Fifth Air Force’s 3rd Bomb Group's 13th Squadron—The Grim Reapers.

The conclusion of World War II saw the Invader remain active with a number of light bomb and reconnaissance USAAF units. In 1947, the US Air Force became independent of the U.S. Army and deleted the "A" designation (indicating Attack category). The Invader was known thereafter as the B-26—a moniker that occasioned confusion with Martin’s B-26 Marauder.

The A-26 was the last propeller-driven twin-engine bomber produced for the USAAF, and was one of the few wartime aircraft types still in service with the post-war U.S. Air Force. In all, Douglas built 2,503 A-26/B-26 Invaders, with the last U.S. military specimen retiring in 1972.

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