A-20C 42-33381
The A-20C designation actually encompassed two distinct variants. Production of the A-20C can be divided into two blocks: aircraft built by Douglas and Boeing as a continuation of the DB-7B production for the RAF, ordered by the AAF under Lend Lease provisions, and aircraft built as generic A-20Cs for the AAF and for Lend-Lease export. The former block was built under Douglas specification DS-403, and the latter under DS-427. The first block, intended for the RAF, was built to US Army specifications and equipped with military engines but retained RAF-specific equipment and armament, including the Mark X bombsight and machine guns.
The second block of A-20Cs, built entirely by Douglas at Santa Monica, had .30-caliber machine guns in all positions. They included a 140-gallon self-sealing fuel tank in the upper bomb bay, increasing total fuel capacity to 540 gallons. These aircraft were designated in production blocks to track minor modifications, with designations such as A-20C-1-DO, A-20C-5-DO, and A-20C-10-DO, indicating incremental changes. Field modifications could further change these designations, although this was rare after the aircraft left the factory.
Douglas built 808 A-20Cs at Santa Monica, and Boeing built 140 at Seattle. Boeing’s production followed the DB-7B order. After the last DB-7B delivery in November 1941, the first A-20C was accepted shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This block of 375 A-20Cs and Boeing’s production were intended for Britain, carrying Air Corps serials and RAF serials. However, none were delivered to Britain; instead, 407 went to the Soviet Union, and the rest were retained by the AAF, primarily for training.
The second block of A-20Cs consisted of 433 aircraft built at Douglas in two sequences. These aircraft had concurrent AAF serials and were delivered between August 1942 and February 1943. Of these, 148 went to Russia, 200 to Great Britain, and 85 to the AAF, with many assigned to the Fifth Air Force in the Pacific. Some AAF aircraft were used for development testing, such as the installation of the Martin power turret on later A-20G models and tracked landing gear tests.