What was the A-36A?

Short answer

The A-36 was the ground-attack and dive-bombing version of the North American P-51 Mustang, identifiable by the rectangular dive brakes above and below the wings, which when deployed limited diving speed to 390 mph. 500 were built and became operational in 1943.

Published: October 30, 2026 · Updated: October 30, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Bottisham Four" - Four P-51 Mustangs fighters in flight

A Mustang built for diving

The A-36 was the ground-attack and dive-bombing version of the North American P-51 Mustang. Its distinguishing feature was in the wings: rectangular dive brakes fitted above and below each wing. Each main wing received a set of hydraulically actuated brakes, and with them deployed, the aircraft's diving speed was limited to 390 mph. That limitation was precisely the purpose of the device, which turned a fighter airframe into that of a dive bomber.

Armament: six Brownings and 1,000 lb of bombs

The fixed armament consisted of six 0.50 in (12.7 mm) Browning AN/M2 machine guns. To these was added external ordnance: up to 1,000 lb (454 kg) of bombs split across two underwing hardpoints. The combination sums up the aircraft's role, a Mustang derivative equipped to drop bombs on target and also to engage it with machine-gun fire.

Five hundred aircraft, two theaters, and a 1944 handover

Five hundred A-36s served in the Mediterranean and Southeast Asian theaters during World War II. The type became operational in 1943, with the 27th and 86th Fighter-Bomber Groups, the two units that first used it in combat. Its record stood at 84 aerial victories and 177 combat losses, so the aircraft not only bombed: it was also drawn into aerial combat. Its European stint ended early: by June 1944 the A-36s had already been replaced in that theater's operations by P-40s and P-47 Thunderbolts.