Why did the US have so many different types of airplanes in WW2?
>P-36
>P-39
>P-38
>P-51
>P-63
>P-80
>B-17
>B-18
>B-26
>B-29
>B-24
>B-30
>B-32
>A-12
>A-20
>A-25
>A-26
>A-29
>A-30
This is just listing the Army Air Force planes. The autism was out of control.
>B for bomber
>A for assaulter
What does P stand for? Propeller?
lots of companies
most planes had different roles
some were fallback designs in case others failed
some were for export but were given type numbers
pursuit
as was said, lots of competing companies. sorta unprepared and indecisive branches of the military, often competing with eachother in ways. lol this doesnt even get into the different types within these planes like torpedo bomber versions. also multiple theatres. dont have an answer besides this without research, but:
does anyone have any excellent stories on US military economy from 1930s through to end of ww2? its one of the greatest untold stories as im learning more of it. the sherman was the best tank of ww2. https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/exercise-dracula-tank-showdown-aug-sept-43.72168/
Phighter
Don't forget F for Foto
plane
Pursuit.
That's not even counting some designs that we ourselves never used, like the Maryland and Baltimore bombers that we sold to the Bongs and Frogs.
Simple answer: Muthafuckin. American. Industry. We could affor not only to build all of those planes, but also dump tens of thousands on our allies and co-belligerants, and all these planes were premium quality, too.
>peanus weenus
Penis
Phuc Hitler
Pursuit, as several other anons pointed out. Basically interceptors intended to be purely air superiority fighters. The F designation was more reserved for the Navy's multirole fighters (Corsair, Hellcat, Buffalo, Bearcat, etc), since a carrier's compliment had to make up for the lack of available space with planes that could do any job good enough. The F designation pretty quickly supplanted the P since we started building fighters that were capable of taking both AA and DA munitions as the default.
As for OP's question, the 30s and 40s saw so much innovation in war machines that a brand new plane could literally be obsolete by the time it was designed, tested, approved and cranked out of the factory. I'm pretty sure every major nation had a ton of designs in most fields, the US just had the resources and operational safety to do it the most
A is for Attack you fucking imbecile.
Pronouns (she/they)
Pursuit, changed to F for Fighter after WWII when the USAF separated and became its own branch from the USAAF.
Other nations had a similar number of aircraft. The US had a higher production capacity by a factor of a hundred, they had no battles on there territory and none of their factories were bombed. Germany had a similar amount of plane designs but many were cancelled due to unsustainability.
Also a lot of these aircraft were prewar so don't really count. The only fighters produced en masse during WW2 were the P-38, P-47, and P-51 by the USAAF, P-63 was basically post-war, it saw no service, same with P-80. Most P-39s were produced pre-war and given to the Soviets. Almost all US uses of P-39s were pre-deployment and then the units switched aircraft when deployed. The P-40 is one of my favorites and was produced quite a bit till the end of the war but saw most use given to allies fighting in North Africa.
Similarly airplane upgrades were given new designations while other countries just gave another number or letter. Bf-109E and F are as different as the A-20 and A-26. Again I will repeat that a lot of those aircraft mentioned are pre/post war.
Also a lot of the aircraft designations I had to search up and found although the designations were used those aircraft were little known or made variants, this list is: A-25 (USAAF designation of Helldiver, all aircraft were given to USMC), A-29, A-30, B-30. The P-36 and A-12 were pre-war and never really saw service, P-63 and P-80 were post war.
Pththththhhhhhhhhht
Phtagn
you should see the list from ww3, phew
Germans and Japs has just as much plane autism too I think, minus the 4E bomber variety. Brits too
One of the reasons was the fact that the USA fought two wars with different logistic demands.
In the Pacific they needed a long range bombers that can fly half of the pacific and then land on islands. They needed a carrier fighters that can match Japanese's Zeros during naval battles.
In Europe then needed a high-load bombers than can fly in formations and defend off against German's planes while bombing the Reich.
Fighters were primarly used in the role of escort planes.
They also needed some planes to defend Britain (black widow etc.)
Two planes for twk different wars.
That's why they abonded air cobras and gave them to Soviets: neither front needed them.
The aircraft of the Pacific war would have been ample for the ETO and mostly being air-cooled radials were more resistant to battle damage. A pinhole in a liquid cooling system eventually requires engine shutdown while air-cooled radials are cheaper to produce and easier to repair than inlines. The type diversity was understandable because no one had fought that sort of war before and aircraft were extremely primitive and unreliable.
US crashes in CONUS approached combat losses. Flying anything anywhere was amazingly dangerous and type diversity let the US try then discard what didn't work well while developing what did.
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/wwiis-tragic-aviation-accidents/
>premium quality
They were fairly decent but outside maintenance nerds (and very few of those) aircraft reliability and maintainability interest no one. Even most of PrepHole are just kids who like the way they look.
>They were fairly decent but outside maintenance nerds (and very few of those) aircraft reliability and maintainability interest no one
the average armchair general on PrepHole has at least a conceptual grasp that "logistics and availability are good". Even the premise of the thread is basically "why not simplify production and logistics". The idea "reliable planes are good" could trickle down even to retards here doesn't seek unthinkable.
Trial and error. Experimentation. A drive and will to be on the cutting edge. Resources and because we can. Use your brain moron.
One of the reasons was the fact that the USA fought de facto two different wars with different logistic demands.
In the Pacific they needed a long range bombers that can fly half the Pacific and then land on islands. They needed a carrier fighters that can match Japanese's Zeros during naval battles.
In Europe then needed a high-load bombers than can fly in formations and defend against German's planes while bombing the Reich.
Fighters were primarly used in the role of escort planes.
They also needed some planes to defend Britain (black widow etc.)
Two design principles for different wars.
That's why they abonded air cobras and gave them to Soviets: neither front needed them.
Fuck, double posted.
Fuck captcha
I mean the RAF had a shit ton of different types too, just off the top of my head;
> Hurricane
> Spitfire
> Typhoon
> Tempest
> Beaufighter
> Mosquito
> Blenheim
> Halifax
> Wellington
> Lancaster
> Stirling
> Defiant
> P-40
> P-47
> P-51
> A-20
> B-25
> C-47
You are listing a bunch of American planes.
Brits bought a bunch of American planes
Things like the P-51 and P-38 were built to meet British requirements and the Brits were the ones that chose the names Mustang, Lightning etc.
Part of the reason the US had so many different planes like the OP is asking, is because they took on a bunch of additional types that had been ordered by Britain and France before America joined the war, so the production lines were open and could churn out additional planes when the war effort stepped up, or in some cases the US could take aircraft that were awaiting delivery to another country with the promise that they would be replaced at a later date
Both these morons missed out my boy Gladiator, the defender of Malta (Italians HATE him)
I admire obsolete aircraft that managed to remain in service throughout the duration of the war. The Hudson is based.
the ventura put the "fighter" in fighter-bomber
"NZ4509 was attacked by nine Japanese single-engined fighters over St. George's Channel. It shot down three, later confirmed, and claimed two others as probables,"
Planes were relatively cheap back then to design, build and fly. Many of the early War were made out of wood and fabric. The most expensive part was the engines and those were often reused in different airframes. Also, arronautical engineering was rapidly advancing at the time and designs quickly became obsolete within a few months and sometimes repurposed for other uses.
>The autism was out of control.
Yes. And the most autistic countries ended up designing the most SEX designs that also happened to have some of the highest K/D ratios, especially Germany, Britain, the US, and Japan in about that order.
>P-36
Pre-war design that didnt see wide service except at the very start
>P-39
Flaws were noted and mostly used as lend lease fodder
>P-38
>P-51
The P-38 was rushed into production because it was their fastest fighter at the start of the war
The P-51 entered service in the middle of it because they needed a long range escort
>P-63
An improved P-39, mostly used for lend lease because the USAAF didnt want it
>P-80
Early jet fighter that never saw combat
>B-17
Their primary heavy bomber at the start of the war
>B-18
Pre-war bomber that didnt see any major role
>B-26
Primary medium bomber at the start of the war
>B-29
Late war heavy bomber, developed to fly higher and faster than any existing bomber
>B-24
Main heavy bomber, its production outstrips all other 4-engined bombers by a hilarious margin
They kept both it and the B-17 in production because some crews preferred the B-17 and it would take a while to disassemble the existing production lines
Bless you
You forgot the most important US fighter of the European Theater:
>P-47
Heavy fighter bomber that could hold its own against Luftwaffe aircraft and had excellent ground attack capability
You tried
Hurricane, Typhoon, Tempest, Fury
Spitfire, Walrus
Whirlwind
Mosquito
Defiant
Fulmar, Albacore, Roc, Battle, Swordfish, Skua
Beaufort, Beaufighter
Lancaster, Blenheim, Halifax, Hampden
Wellington, Wellesley, Whitley, Whitworth
Stirling, Sunderland
>P-47
>Hold it's own
Is this another "der Gabelschwanz Teufel" myth like what the Germans supposedly called the P-38 even though it's American propoganda, because the Luftwaffe , either test pilots or pilots who fought against them were not impressed by the P-47 at all. Same with RAF test pilots.
P-47 is the best high altitude fighter of the war, except it switched roles with the P-51 which was intended for low altitudes to replace the P-40. The reasons for this being the better pilot protection in the P-47. The P-47 couldn't "hold its own" against the entire Luftwaffe but dogfight cameras against Fw-190s show that it was a good turnfighter regardless, owing to its better wing loading characteristics against German fighter designs made for boom-n-zoom energy fighting tactics.
>Germans supposedly called the P-38
Never heard of this as the P-38 rarely served in Europe. Also many pilots who didn't like the P-47 at first grew to love them, they were just biased at first because it was the heaviest fighter of the war and looked dumb.
>Never heard of this as the P-38 rarely served in Europe.
P-38 saw action against the germans in north africa where it performed well
later action in italy was more mixed, but still kept because it did better than the P-40
in western europe, it was occasionally used as fighters but their main role was as a photo-recon plane where it was exceedingly effective
also did fighter-bomber missions
main reason it wasnt used there as much was because it did poorly at high altitudes due to controls locking up in a dive
P-38J brought it up to the same standard as the P-51D with hydraulically boosted controls and dive flaps, but the air war was already winding down by then
>Pilot protection
Same as in the P-51, armoured seat, engine firewall and bullet resistant glass for the windshield. Reason P-47 was more durable was due to the aircooled engine being more resistant to damage. But pilot protection was the same as every other US fighter at the mid-late stage of the War
>Best high altitude fighter
Yes but also not as big a difference, while in 1943 the 109 and 190 topped out at 6-6.5km vs ~8km. In the west they had GM-1 system to give them power at high altitude. In 1944,Bf-109 variants with the DB605AS/DB605D engines had the same critical altitude as the P-47 (~8km)
>Wingloadinf
Doesnt mean anything on its own especially when the power to weight ratio of the P-47 is so poor, the thing weighs nearly as much as a P-38 yet has 2/3rds the power
>P-38
>Rarely served in Europe
Now this is alt history
12th AF, 15th AF in North Africa/Italy, 8th AF (until summer '44) and 9AF in NW Europe extensively used P-38
>were not impressed by the P-47 at all.
That's funny. Because they got over 3000 A2A kills (4.6:1) and destroyed over 7000 aircraft total.
The P-47 in the ETO was something of a compromise, similar to the F4F vs Zero matchup (but not that lopsided).
Of course the Luftwaffe and the RAF weren't impressed; they had better fighters. However like the "obsolete" Hurricane earlier in the war, the P-47 although outmatched by the best enemy aircraft (Fw190) could still competitively fight against older aircraft (Bf109), escape, or even win in a favourable scenario.
The P-47 was able to do this because it had a huge engine, strong protection and massive firepower that enabled it to zoom and boom, or run away, even if it couldn't manouevre, dogfight or convert on enemy Fw190s. Once it got up to high altitude, it held the advantage over German fighters.
Hence, before P-51s entered the theatre, the P-47 was used as long-range escorts for bombers.
Anybody can point at a fighter that defeats its opponent in all categories and say it's better. That's child's play. In reality, the distinctions are not so clear-cut and different aircraft have different advantages and tradeoffs.
P-38s were supplanted by P-47s in the ETO as combat aircraft, it was no contest.
The P-38 fanboy club has just been more vocal, and most people remember the P-47 for its ground attack missions.
>they were largely responsible for the erosion of the Luftwaffe's experienced pilot core
The Spitfire has the largest Allied fighter score of WW2 across both theatres. Although this is somewhat inflated by the Battle of Britain (the USAAF entered the game late), even post D-day the Spitfire is reckoned to account for roughly a quarter to a third of Luftwaffe kills at least, and in the end comes out about 10% ahead of the Mustang in second place.
The Mustang did extremely well considering it served for about 1.5 years but quickly ran up the score as the best USAAF fighter and second-best Allied fighter.
What few know is that the Thunderbolt has a respectable 60% of the P-51's kills.
Because there were far more aircraft companies back then and they could get a drawing to a flying prototype in months or even faster instead of decades like today.
Because technology and designs were advancing very rapidly.
The USA basically gave a blank check to every plane manufacturer in the country.
BECAUSE WE FUCKIN COULD
It was a time of fantastically fast aircraft development
Here's an illustration:
Around March 1937 the RAF brought into service their latest bomber, the Bristol Blenheim. It was the fastest bomber in existence at the time, which would make it difficult for older fighters to catch up to it and shoot it down. 6 months later the RAF introduced the Hawker Hurricane, a bomber-killer even faster than the Blenheim, so that enemies who made fast bombers wouldn't escape. It was also a capable fighter though not the fastest.
But 7 or 8 months later the Supermarine Spitfire flew, and almost immediately obsoleted the Hurricane in the fighter arena.
Because tech was evolving at an insane rate.
My family ran a machining shop in Buffalo and when the war started they got a contract to create like an exhaust valve tube thing or whatever and by the early 60s it had made all the employees that owned shares in the company millionaires. It was just every city was having federal gubment money raining into every industry generating an unprecedented global war machine. And it was a crazy economic stimulus the middle class and everyone else.
That’s the thing I thing a lot of ferners don’t understand is that a big chunk of our economic stability hinges on the continued machinations of the war robot that feeds on brown people bones
>a big chunk of our economic stability hinges on the continued machinations of the war robot that feeds on brown people bones
What a retard
Stop consooming anti-US peacenik memes
The American defence sector isn't even 3% of the economy
The civilian sector is the real powerhouse of American prosperity
The post WW2 US civilian sector was built on the dividends of the military and that's a fact.
>the war robot that feeds on brown people bones
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Airplane design was hit and miss.
They hade a near Infinite industrial capacity, ofc they are going to experiment and specialize aircraft
8n addition to the other stuff pointed out, I would like to remind everyone that all belligerents had separate aircraft as night fighters as well. I don't know why they needed completely different aircraft, but undoubtedly they had a reason.
he US had the P-62 black widow, but everyone else mostly just used converted heavy fighters or light bombers
radar was heavy, complicated, and delicate
you basically needed a person whose only job was to operate it
and you needed something that had space and lift to carry it
and to hit anything in pitch darkness, you needed radar
so the germans used the twin engined BF-110, with the radar jammed between the gunner and pilot
the british initially used converted blenheim bombers but later used beauforts and beaufighters with a radar station in the center of the fuselage
>british initially used converted blenheim bombers but later used beauforts and beaufighters with a radar station in the center of the fuselage
and then mossies
Radar was bulky as fuck back then, which meant that a plane carrying it had to be bulkier and less maneuverable, which in turn would make it less suited to daylight operations.
The instruments and skills needed to fly when you can’t see weren’t standard yet. Night fighters tended to actually have primitive radars and better navigation equipment, and were larger to carry all that stuff. This increased size and weight enough to make them bad vs normal fighters in the daytime, but actually able to find enemy planes at night
That's not even all of the ones that entered service, much less the even larger number that didn't make it past the prototype stage.
They were trying all kinds of things. Some stuff worked. Some stuff didn't work. Some stuff eventually worked, but it was unneeded by that point (looking at you, Flying Flapjack). Some stuff worked, but it wasn't any better than what already existed, or wasn't worth the cost (see: F5F, which had an awesome climb rate, but otherwise wasn't any better than F6F or F4U).
There was no straight-line tech tree; just a bunch of different companies trying different things, all at the same time (because we needed stuff *now*).
different planes for different purposes?
Multirole is a fairly new idea for airforce and navy planes.
More like multirole is a newly viable idea, it was always available. Now with BVR combat better equipment (more weight) and more weapons (more weight) matter more than flight characteristics (less weight). We used to have to balance equipment and weapons with flight characteristics, but the F-14 and F-15 were the last airplanes that almost kinda tried to balance flight characteristics. It was pretty much proven that the F-14's swept wings were worthless as it shot missiles from BVR and scared away enemies by flicking on the TWS radar. The F/A-18 is interesting as it is a clear step back in performance from the F-14 in everything but low speed turns but it can bomb in a cost effective manner, which the F-14 was relegated to at the end of its career.
Kinda looks like my ex if she would've lost weight
My sympathizes.
The P-47s record is impressive not only by raw numbers but also because they were largely responsible for the erosion of the Luftwaffe's experienced pilot core, which was the primary goal of the bomber offensive. By the time the P-51s came onto the scene, German pilots were being rushed through training programs and the quality levels were in free fall.
>Bf-109
>Fw-190
>Bf-110
>Me-262
>Me-410
>He-219
>Me-163
>He-162
>Ju-87
>Hs-123
>Hs-129
>Ju-88
>Ju-188
>Ju-388
>He-111
>Do-17
>Do-217
>He-177
>Ar-234
everyone was autistic
Smaller contracts in the 1930s, and when the War started, the US bought more of everything that was in production, along with new stuff.