World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseA-31 Vengeance aircraft were built in the late 1930s by two American companies Vultee Corporation and Northrop Corporation. The two-seat dive bomber design was funded by private money, not as a response to a request from the United States military, because the intent for the final products was for foreign sales. France, Britain, Brazil, China, Turkey, and Russia purchased these dive bombers, though the French contract was never fulfilled due to German conquest. The British Royal Air Force used them mostly in Burma and India, some under the banner of the Royal Indian Air Force; they were soon discovered to be too weak to go up against Japanese fighters, therefore were relegated for training use. Between May 1942 and Apr 1943, 400 Vengeance aircraft were delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force, but they saw little combat. In late 1944, the British Fleet Air Arm received a shipment of Vengeance dive bombers, but did not use them on the front line. When production ceased, 1,528 units were built.

SPECIFICATIONS

A-31

Machinery	One Wright Double Row Cyclone GR-2600-A5B-5 radial air-cooled engine rated at 1,700hp
Armament	4x7.7mm forward machine guns, 2x7.7mm rear machine guns, 2x500kg internal bombs, 2x250kg external bombs
Crew	2
Span	14.63 m
Length	12.12 m
Height	4.67 m
Wing Area	30.84 m²
Weight, Empty	4,672 kg
Weight, Maximum	7,439 kg
Speed, Maximum	450 km/h
Speed, Cruising	354 km/h
Service Ceiling	6,800 m
Range, Normal	3,701 km

Photographs

Visitor Submitted Comments

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1.  Hobilar says:
1 Sep 2007 11:31:04 PM

The Free French Air Force operated the Vengeance in North Africa, and the aircaft was also supplied to Brazil. The USAAF commandeered some of the aircraft intended for British use but these did not see combat.

2.  Alan Chanter says:
8 Dec 2007 08:13:53 AM

In 1940 the British Purchasing mission placed an order for 700 Vengeance dive-bombers which were built by Northrop (Vengeance Mk.I) and Vultee (Vengeance Mk.II). A further 300 were ordered in 1941 under Lend-Lease (Vengeance Mk.IA from Northrop and Vengeance Mk.III from Vultee) but 243 of these were commandeered by the USAAF when the U.S. entered the war.

With improved armament and equipment Vultee later built 99 A35A and 831 A35Bs of which 562 were supplied to the UK as the Vengeance Mk.IV

The Vengeance was considered unsuitable for use is Europe, but enjoyed considerable success when employed in support of Allied forces in Burma.