This was basically a huge 2300 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engine with an airframe wrapped around it and eight .50 cal. machine guns imbedded in the wings. (compare this to the P-51 Mustang with its 1200 hp Allison engine and four .50 cal. machine guns. The Thunderbolt could also carry a 1500 lb bomb load, and later versions were equipped with rocket tubes. 15,660 examples of this aircraft were built by the end of the war. The Germas where terrefied at the site of this formidable and devastating weapon.
