NIGHT-FIGHTING CORSAIRS

摘要

During the Guadalcanal campaign in the Pacific in late 1942, the Americans had no means of stopping numerous night bombing raids by the Japanese. The bomber aircrews were adept at flying night missions and didn't have to worry about US Navy and US Marine Corps fighter opposition. The first efforts to provide defence were by the marines with twin-engine Lockheed PV-1 Venturas and the US Army Air Force with its radar-equipped, modified Douglas A-20 Havocs (known as P-70s). However, it was information and guidance provided by the British before the US entered the war that enabled the Americans to start developing a single-seat night-fighter equipped with airborne intercept radar. As early as August 1940, the US Navy met British technical and scientific personnel to share information.