"The Flying Gun Battery"| "Bomber Destroyer" | Bell XFM1 Airacuda

The US Army Air Corps needed a new twin engine, multifunctional platform, and Ball Aircraft Corporation responded with the Airacuda, the company's first military aircraft built in the 1930s. The aim was to have a single, more affordable aircraft that could handle all aspect of military aviation. Modern inventions like the front-facing gun turrets pointing forward, the one cabin with a gun on each wing, and the third cabin with the pilot and copilot on the aircraft's nose were all firsts on the Bell Airacuda. These improvements made it possible for the plane to efficiently carry out a variety of tasks.
Using its groundbreaking 37 millimeter guns, the Airacuda was to be first aircraft to destroy enemy bomber formations in the air. It was sluggish, cumbersome, and challenging to maneuver against opposing attacks, even though test pilots saw potential in it. The aircraft's speed limit of 277 miles per hour rendered it unfit for use as an interceptor. Enemy fighters might target it from the flanking position due to its weight and bomber-like appearance. The Airacuda was limited to the prototype stage and would not be employed in the impending battle, despite these shortcomings.

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