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B-32 Dominator | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Heavy strategic bomber |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Consolidated Aircraft |
Status | Retired |
Primary user | United States Army Air Forces |
Number built | 118 |
History | |
Manufactured | 1944–1945 |
Introduction date | 27 January 1945 |
First flight | 7 September 1942 |
Retired | 30 August 1945 |
Developed from | Consolidated B-24 Liberator |
The Consolidated B-32 Dominator (Consolidated Model 34) was an American heavy strategic bomber built for United States Army Air Forces during World War II, which had the distinction of being the last Allied aircraft to be engaged in combat during World War II; that engagement also resulted in the last American to die in air combat in World War II. It was developed by Consolidated Aircraft in parallel with the Boeing B-29 Superfortress as a fallback design should the B-29 prove unsuccessful.[1] The B-32 reached units in the Pacific only in mid-May 1945, and subsequently saw only limited combat operations against Japanese targets before the formal end of the war on 2 September 1945. Most of the extant orders of the B-32 were canceled shortly thereafter and only 118 B-32 airframes of all types were built.