Body armour

Douglas A/B-26 Invader

The A-26 armor was an original feature of all A-26s. It is made of a hardened Duralumin product that was originally designed to stop a .50 cal bullet at 500 yds.

It surrounded the cockpit, it ran along the sides to protect the control cables and it covered the bottom of the fuel tanks between the fuselage and nacelles. There are also armored access doors on the bottom of each nacelle.

Some of armor panels are removalable on sides of cockpit. Some is built into the frame, around back of cockpit from above wing to wing behind cockpit. There was also some under floor as well, inside nose wheel well, forward of instrument panel in nose section.

Much of the skin around the cockpit was 3/8" or 5/16" thick Dural. It was an integral part of the airframe and not an add-on. It was intended for "deflection protection from angular machine gun fire". Standard armor plate was also installed internally in certain select areas for additional protection of the crew and critical systems.

The insulating blankets were not bullet proof. These blankets were intended to provide some thermal insulation and noise suppression. A WWII pilot told me that the difference was like driving your car with and without the internal door panels.


				Douglas A/B-26 Invader Body armour



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