Douglas A-20 Havoc

Very few aircraft attracted a wider range of designations than the Douglas DB-7/ A-20 Havoc/ P-70 Nighthawk/ Havoc night fighter/ Boston bomber
The Douglas A-20 Havoc may not be one of the best known bombers of the Second World War, but it was used by seven Bombardment Groups, fought in the south west Pacific, took part in the invasions of North Africa, Italy, France and Germany, and remained in service until the end of the war
The Douglas A-20 was the first version of the Havoc to be ordered by the US Army Air Corps.
The Douglas A-20A was similar to the original A-20, but without the turbo-superchargers used on the earlier version of the Havoc
The Douglas A-20B was the first version of the Havoc to be produced in large numbers for the USAAF, but it lacked self-sealing fuel tanks and did not have enough armour.
The Douglas A-20C was originally produced for export to Britain and the Soviet Union under lend-lease, but a large number were retained in the United States after Pearl Harbor
The Douglas A-20D was the designation given to a lightened version of the Havoc that would have been powered by turbo-supercharged R-2600-7 engines.
The Douglas A-20E designation was given to a small number of Havocs used for experiments with lightened fuselages
The Douglas A-20F was the designation given to a version of the Havoc armed with a large 37mm gun in the nose, built on a modified A-20A chassis
The Douglas A-20G saw the biggest change to the design of the Havoc with the replacement of the glass bombardier’s nose by a solid nose carrying six forward firing guns.
The Douglas A-20H was a minor variation on the A-20G, the first solid-nosed version of the Havoc.
The Douglas A-20J saw the reintroduction of the glass bombardier’s nose, replaced on the A-20G by a solid gun nose
The Douglas A-20K was a glass-nosed “lead ship” produced to work alongside the solid nosed A-20H
At the start of the Second World War the US Army Air Corps lacked a modern radar equipped night fighter, and so it was decided to copy the RAF and convert a number of Douglas A-20s into P-70 Nighthawks night fighters.
The Douglas BD was the US Navy designation for nine A-20 Havocs, used as high speed target tugs
Forty nine Douglas A-20 Havocs were converted to act as photo-reconnaissance aircraft, under the designation Douglas F-3