In 1939, the USAAC decided that the new bomber was best placed to meet its requirements for an attack bomber, which had been updated in 1938 from those that gave rise to the Model 7B, and in June 1939, it ordered 186 aircraft powered by Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone engines, under the designations A-20 and A-20A (with the A-20s having 1,700 hp (1,300 kW) turbosupercharged R-2600-7 engines and the A-20As having 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) supercharged R-2600-3 or -11 engines. The revised aircraft, the DB-7, first flew on 17 August 1939.
HAVOC BATTLE GROUP BOSTON MAC
Normal bombload was 1,410 lb (640 kg), or 1,800 lb (800 kg) in overload conditions, with a defensive armament of single 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns in dorsal and ventral mounts and four fixed forward-firing guns in the nose. The wing was mounted lower than on the Model 7B, while the engines, 1,000 hp (750 kW) R-1830-SC3-Gs, were mounted in nacelles slung under the wings. While the design's wings were largely unchanged, the revised design had a new deeper but narrower fuselage, which accommodated a crew of three - a pilot, bombardier and a gunner.
Īs a result of the French order, Heinemann carried out another major redesign of the aircraft. Despite the crash, the French were impressed enough to place an order for 100 production aircraft on 15 February 1939, following this up with an order for 170 more in October 1939. The presence of a foreigner on a test flight for an aircraft still under development caused a scandal in the press. The Model 7B crashed on 23 January 1939 while demonstrating single-engine performance, killing the test pilot and seriously injuring a French observer aboard the aircraft. The French discreetly participated in the flight trials, so as not to attract criticism from American isolationists.
The model attracted the attention of a French Purchasing Commission visiting the United States. The prototype Model 7B made its first flight on 26 October 1938. The Air Corps invited all five companies to build prototypes at their own expense and to submit sealed bids for production of their aircraft. It faced competition from the North American NA-40, Stearman X-100, Martin 167F, and an unbuilt design from Bell Aircraft, the Model 9. 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). In 1937, the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) issued a new specification for an attack aircraft. The USAAF used the P-70 designation to refer to the night fighter variants. The exception was the Royal Australian Air Force, which used the name Boston for all variants. In most British Commonwealth air forces, the bomber variants were known as Boston, while the night fighter and intruder variants were named Havoc. It was also used by the air forces of Australia, South Africa, France, and the Netherlands during the war, and by Brazil afterwards. A total of 7,478 aircraft were built, of which more than a third served with Soviet units. 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. In 1942 USAAF A-20s saw combat in North Africa. From 1941, night fighter and intruder versions were given the service name Havoc. French DB-7s were the first to see combat after the fall of France the bomber, under the service name Boston continued with the Royal Air Force. 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.ĭesigned to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was ordered by France for their air force before the USAAC decided it would also meet their requirements.
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