'BATTLESHIP BROADSIDE!' TURNING THE TWIN MUSTANG INTO A ROCKET LAUNCHER PLATFORM

摘要

"It's like a battleship broadside!" That is how one NAA engineer recalled an enthusiastic USAAF project officer describing a salvo of rockets from the company's Twin Mustang. With the end of the Second World War, North American found itself scrambling for aircraft orders since final victory had cancelled thousands of projected aircraft while huge numbers of talented workers had been laid off virtually overnight. The company was in better shape than most since its radical P-86 design would become the USAF's primary fighter while modified variants would serve with the US Navy. However, NAA officials were hoping they could keep the troubled P-82 Twin Mustang program going until more Sabre contracts came pouring in and the best way to do that was to offer numerous variants of the unique fighter that could fulfill specific requirements.