The story of the Lockheed XP-58 is an unfortunate one, marked by continuously shifting requirements, power plant problems, and official mismanagement. The origin of the aircraft can be traced back to April 12, 1940, when Lockheed formally agreed to the development of an advanced derivative of the P-38 Lightning at its own expense in exchange for Army authorization of exportation of Model 322 Lightnings to the UK and France - a form of "exacted tribute." As initially conceived, the aircraft was to have been powered by two Continental IV-1430 liquid-cooled engines with turbo-superchargers. It was offered in both single seat and two seat versions, the former armed with one 20-mm. cannon and lour .50 caliber machine guns, while the latter had supplemental .50 caliber machine guns in remote-control barbettes at the end of the tail booms. This advanced escort fighter had a modest 16,500 lb gross weight and an estimated maximum speed of 450 mph at 25,000 ft, ambitions performance figures for the time.
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