P38 Lightning

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Like a bolt out of the blue

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a twin-engined fighter utilized by American forces in WW2 and serves as a unit in Flames of War. Called the "Forked Tailed Devil" by the Germs, and "Two Planes one Pilot" by the Japanese, the P-38 earned a reputation as a powerful fighter, possessing 4 .50 caliber browning machine guns and a 20mm cannon in its nose, the P-38 could lay down highly accurate destructive fire without having to worry about convergence. First envisioned as an interceptor, the P-38 came to encompass a variety of roles during WW2 from night fighter, high-altitude reconnaissance, and most importantly for Flames of War, ground attack.

IRL

Strike twice

Arguably the first true "interceptor", the P-38 was built from the start to serve a unique role that differentiated it from nearly every other fighter in the war. The designers wanted a fighter with exceptionally high speed and climb rate that could bring down bombers at high altitude. Accomplishing this would require two large, powerful engines with advanced turbosuperchargers, which at the time were expensive and notoriously complicated to maintain. The resulting fighter made compromises in maneuverability and was quite large, but as its main targets were to be bombers, this was considered acceptable.

The P-38's large size allowed it to carry much more fuel than a typical fighter, and running at a more economical cruising speed it had an enormous operational range allowing it to escort bombers well into German airspace and operate across the Pacific. But its limitations in maneuverability meant it was terribly outmatched at lower altitude by nimble single engine fighters.

As the war progressed and newer designs such as the P-51 became available, the remaining Lightnings were repurposed. With it's large size and easily modified cockpit pod, it was an ideal candidate for conversion to other purposes. Hundreds were converted for reconnaissance, and a smaller number were equipped with radar to serve as night fighters.