The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American twin-engined medium bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company from their DC-2 as a replacement for the Martin B-10.

One SFA STWC-3 engined B 18A prototype. The same prototype was later re-engined with SFA DB 605B engines as the prototype for the B 18B. The first production version, bomber aircraft powered by two SFA STWC-3 Twin Wasp radial piston engines and armed with three 13.2 mm akan m/39A autocannons, one fixed, two movable for defence. 62 built.

Flying at a higher altitude will help to avoid a majority of the fighter aircraft which tend to stay at the lower altitudes. The B18A can also be pressed into service in the lower altitudes and even on the deck. When outfitted with rockets, the B18A can dive-bomb ground targets to include tanks, bunkers, anti-aircraft artillery and naval ships.

The Douglas Aircraft Co. developed the B-18 to replace the Martin B-10 as the U.S. Army Air Corps' standard bomber. Based on the Douglas DC-2 commercial transport, the prototype B-18 competed with the Martin 146 (an improved B-10) and the four-engine Boeing 299, forerunner of the B-17, at the Air Corps bombing trials at Wright Field in 1935.

It was designed for a USAAC competition, announced on August 6, 1934, to find a modern replacement for the assorted twin-engine Keystone biplane and Martin B-10 bombers. The DB-1 competed against the Martin 146 and Boeing Model 299 (B-17 Flying Fortress) and beat out the competition after the Boeing 299 prototype crashed during the trials.

The Douglas B-18 Bolo was an American medium bomber used by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. It was primarily employed for coastal defense and anti-submarine patrols before and during World War II. Description.

The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American medium bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company, based on its DC-2, and was developed to replace the Martin B-10.

It was much heavier and was based on the DC-2 passenger airliner. This large size, paired with mediocre engines, meant that by 1940 the aircraft was considered underpowered and undergunned, with mediocre defensive armament for the time. Shortly after its introduction, the B-18As became the backbone of the USAAC's bomber squadrons.

The Douglas B-18 was designed to meet a 1934 requirement of the USAAC. This called for a bomber with a range of 2000 miles carrying a ton of bombs, at a speed of at least 200 mph. The Douglas DB-1 design competed with the Martin 146, a modernised B-10, and the Boeing 299, the later B-17. The B-18 was the cheaper and more conservative solution.

In January 1936, the War Department ordered 133 Douglas B-18s and thirteen Boeing YB-17s. This decision has been widely criticized, both at the time and by later historians, given that the B-17 would go on to become one of the most effective bombers of World War II, while the B-18 was largely obsolete by the time the U.S. entered the war.