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Originally Posted by Battleaxe
Do you mean a Gigant acting as an escort for other Gigants??!!!! Come on! The thing was nothing more that an almost untowable glider (fabric cover and all) with engines.
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Actually, the 'gunship' escort concept is not unique to the Gigant - they tried 'gunning up' some B-17's and called them
YB-40's - they had an extra dorsal turret, the waist guns were double -50's (instead of single -50's), and I beleve it was the first model with the 'chin' turret at the bombradier's station (which was removed in the YB-40's - the bomb bay was converted into a magazine to carry the extra ammo). They also added extra armor.
It turned out that with the extra weight of the additional guns, armor and ammo, they could barely keep up with the bomber stream on the way in - and, after dropping their loads, the outbound bombers had to slow down so the 'escort' gunships could keep up!
Needless to say, they weren't deemed a success, and only 25 or so were made.
-whatever
-Lou