North American Mustang Mk.I (40mm):The Anti-Tank Mustang

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Mustang Mk.I (40mm) AM106

Hello! And welcome to my next suggestion for North American Mustang in UK service, today I bring a unique modification to the AM106 airframe armed with two 40mm Vickers S cannons under the wings, similar to the Hurricane Mk.IV.

History

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In 1941 the First Mustangs began making their way into RAF service, but it didnt jump straight into dogfighting operations, armed with 4 7.7mm and 2 12.7mm machine guns but lacking at power at altitudes where combat occured over europe, the Mustang was used more for reconnaissance and low level strike in RAF service, something it excelled at due to its high speed and good performance at sea level, outrunning every Axis fighter at the time.

This was also at the same time that the RAF began using a new weapons in North Africa, the 40mm Vickers S cannon, on aircraft. Designed to tear open fuel tanks and cripple even the newer Panzer 3 and 4 tanks making their way onto the battlefield. They were initially mounted on Hurricanes, dubbed the Mk.IID (later improved to Mk.IV) and whilst formidable, it was lacking in performance and speed, making it vulnerable to enemy aircraft and AA fire alike.

This is where AM106 comes in, it was one of several Mustangs dedicated to Stores testing, experimenting with Extra Fuel tanks, Zero Length Rocket launchers and, most importantly, 40mm cannons. Whilst on paper the Mustang was ideal for the role, having far greater performance than the Hurricane, to my knowledge the RAF never adopted them into any Mustang squadrons leaving AM106 as the sole Mustang armed with the cannons.

Images

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AM106 at an Airfield in the UK, note the “G” designation on its serial meaning it would have had to been kept under Armed guard at all times

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AM106 on the ground outside of a Hangar in 1943

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Underside of AM106 in flight

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The Mustangs Vickers S with their covers removed

Another angle in front of the Hangar

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Another Mustang with experimental Fuel tanks equipped, I am lead to believe they are the same model fitted to AM106

Specs/Armament

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Performance

Crew: 1 (Pilot)
Engine: Allision V-1710-39, 1,220hp
Max Speed: * Max Speed: 382mph at 4200m
Length: 9.80 m (32.15 ft)
Width: 11.29 m (37.04 ft)
Height: 3.72 m (12.20 ft)
Weight: 2858 kg (6300 lbs)
Max. Combat Weight: 4808 kg (10600 lbs)
Ceiling: 9144 m (30,000 ft)
Max. Range: 2755 km (1712 Miles)

Armament

Guns:

  • 2 x 40mm Vickers S cannons

  • 2 x 12.7mm Machine guns in the nose, possibly another two in the wings

Rockets:

  • up to 8 x RP-3 rockets (on experimental launchers)

Any more armament is unkown, more info greatly appreciated

Place In game

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I feel this could come to game around 3.0 to provide a goood Anti tank aircraft that would bridge a Gap between the Hurricane Mk.IV at 2.0 and Tempest (Vickers P) at 3.7, providing a challenging yet dangerous armament that could be brutal against tanks and aircraft alike.

This could also be a good and unique event/battlepass vehicles providing gameplay not often seen in the game compared to regular bombing, it would play effectively like a more powerful Hurricane Mk.IV, being able to equip either AP or HE belts or a mix of both, also being able to trade its cannons for a number of RP-3s at a great loss of offensive capabilities.

Sources

Spoiler

The Twin 40mm Mustang; AM106 - Forgotten Aircraft - Military Matters
Mustang I/IA for RAF
North American P-51 Mustang
10 Weirdest Mustangs: Bizarre and exotic P-51 variants | Hush-Kit
North American P-51 Mustang - Wikipedia

6 Likes

+1

3 Likes

Ooh cool, I’d never heard of this conversion before.

2 Likes

Ofcourse it’s British, +1!

1 Like

+1

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AM106 had multiple arrangements during its life. Some images have the nose mounted .50 Brownings in place, other images show two wing gun ports open and the nose guns removed and faired over. I think it would be safe to assume that there were always two .50 Brownings in place in one of the locations.

3 Likes

Hmm, do you have any sources or images for that?

In my research all the images i saw had the Nose guns faired over, and I wasnt entirely sure if the wing guns were even retained. Although any info is more than appreciated.

Wait never mind, ive just gone back and looked at the images again and noticed the nose guns fitted in some… Im blind apparently, so i guess its 2 x .50 cals confirmed and perhaps another two in the wings then

Yes! Always room for more mustangs!!

Also, looking at the photos, could it happen to be a modified A-36 with 40mm cannons instead of airbrakes?

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No from my research it is a Mustang Mk.I, the RAF received very few A-36s as well with only around 30 (I think?) supplied, plus the Mk.I featured the Nose mounted 12.7s that the A-36 also used

Hmm okay. I thought I read somewhere they operated more, specifically over Africa. I’ll have to try and refind it

Huh, cool

Any plans to do one armed with 4 .30 cals? Again I think they operated ones with those weapons, but I can’t remember for sure

afaik the only Mustangs that used any 7.7s was the Mk.I that had 4 x 7.7 and 4 x 12.7s, I’ve already done a suggestion for that

That must be it.

Thanks for linking it! :)

1 Like