WINGSPAN 12,65 m ; 41,61 Ft
WING AREA 30,19 m2 ; 36,11 Sq Yds
POWERPLANT 1 Wright R-1820-66 Cyclone 9 (1007 kW / 1368 CV)
WEAPONS 2 12,7 mm machineguns; 2 7,7 mm machineguns; up to 1020 kg of external payload
MAX LOADED WEIGHT 4320 Kg ; 9536 Lbs
TOP SPEED 410 Km/h ; 255 MPH
CEILING 10120 m ; 33289 Ft
RANGE 1250 Km ; 777 Mi
The SBD was the most important embarked bomber of the US Navy during the war against the Japan; it was basically an encanhcement of the Northrop BT-1 of 1935. The prototype of the Dauntless was the XBT-2, but the factory was then bought by the Douglas; the first version of series of this strong monoplane was called SBD- 1 and in the end of 1940 there were active 57 planes to the USMC. The SBD-2 (87 built) for the US Navy had more fuel capacity and more weapons. The other models were the SBD-3 with heavier fixed weapons and self-sealing tanks (780 built), the SBD-4 with a different electrical plant (780 built), the SBD-5 with a more powerful engine ( 3025 built), the SBD-6 with more power capacity (451 built), the USAAF versions (A-24 , 380 built ,derivated from the SBD-3)(A-24A, 170 built ,derivated from the SBD-4), then the Dauntless Mk I (9 built), that was a version of the SBD-5 for the British Fleet Air Arm.