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The B-26N was a highly modified, specialized aircraft that was in service with the French Army Air Force. Only 8 aircraft were modified to this type. In 1961, the French Air Force’s L’Escadrille de Chasse de Nuit 1/71 (Night Fighter Squadron 1/71), or ECN 1/71 took possession of the 8x B-26Ns. The primary task of the B-26N was to shoot down planes that were supplying arms and equipment to the National Liberation Front rebels in Algeria.

Most of the supply lines to Algeria came by way of Tunisia. The French erected an elaborate ground-based system that used razor wire, ditches, and mines stretching all up and down the Algerian border to stop enemies supplies from getting through via the ground, but aviators could just fly over the defenses. French Naval Radar stations could see the intruding aircraft but couldn't direct friendly forces to intercept. In response, the French hastily built two flying radar platforms out of Dassault MD 315 Flammant transports, each mounted with aerial radars. The unarmed planes had a slow speed - 168 mph - and a very limited range of about 650 miles. A longer-term solution was sorely needed.

In 1951, France had begun to receive B-26s from the United States in a lend-lease program as part of a military aid package. The French Air Force received more than 200 airframes. The first use of the French Invaders was in Indochina and then in Algeria. The Invaders had a maximum speed of over 350 miles per hour and could carry up to 8,000 pounds of bombs and rockets in an internal bay and on racks under the wings. Depending on the particular load-out, the Invader could fly up to 1,400 miles on a single tank of fuel. This was a much-needed improvement over the Flammant transports that the French were using as Night Fighters.

In addition to the bomb loadout, the standard B-26 aircraft typically had two turrets, each with a pair of .50 caliber machine guns and many of the models received by the French had three more in each wing. The B-26B models had solid noses with either six or eight more Brownings. With the eight-gun nose and the internal wing guns, these aircraft could tear apart ground targets with 14 guns in total. The top turret could not be used in ground attacks due to revisions made to the cockpit during production.

The B-26N Invaders received a custom-built housing made by French Engineers, which contained a British Mk. X air intercept radar. These radars had been pulled from ECN 1/71’s Gloster Meteor NF.11s, which France had bought from the United Kingdom after World War II. While a capable aircraft, the Meteor was a jet night fighter, and was too fast and fuel hungry to scour the rugged Algeria-Tunisia border for protracted periods of time while hunting relatively slow-moving, small cargo-carrying aircraft. There is at least one picture of a formation with a French Meteor NF.11, a B-26N, and one of the radar-equipped Flamants.

The modifications to the B-26N were not without cost. The aerial radars occupied much of the space inside of the nose of the aircraft, and as a result, the upgraded Invaders lost their nose gun armament. Instead, the B-26Ns carried a single gun pod under each wing, each housing a pair of .50 caliber machine guns. This is an interesting choice because the Invader could not have internal wing guns and gun pods at the same time, it was either one of the other. This is due to the fact that the ammo for the gun pod is stored inside of the wing, right in the place where the internal wing guns are installed. Photos of the B-26Ns show that both turrets were also removed. This means that the B-26N carried a stripped-down armament of only 4x .50 caliber machine guns total, and only in a forward-facing firing position, like a fighter. In addition, each aircraft had a pair of 68mm SNEB rocket pods. The result was what has been described as a “special colonial night fighter.”

The French Air Force conducted 15 test & evaluation missions to ensure that the A1-Mk. 10 Radar was working correctly. The final test flight of the set also included a live-fire test of the SNEB rocket launcher, which was fired at night using the radar lock, at a target towed behind a B-26.

The efficacy of the B-26N has been debated. The B-26Ns intercepted nearly 40 small planes and helicopters and shot down only nine. It's unclear whether the remaining 31 intercepts turned out to be false tracks, friendly aircraft, or simply enemies that managed to evade the Night Fighters. It is also impossible to independently verify this, as the article doesn’t give a source for that information. By most accounts, once the B-26Ns were finally operational in this role, the number and frequency of these resupply flights was already diminishing so they encountered a scarcity of targets. It's been argued that in a target-rich environment, the B-26N would have been more effective.

The debate over their effectiveness became irrelevant not too long after they were put into action. In 1961, secret negotiations began between the French administration and the Algerian rebels. A group of French officers attempted a coup, but they failed to overthrow the French leadership or force a change in policy. On Feb. 20, 1962, France and the Algerian rebels entered into a peace accord that would ultimately lead to Algerian independence. French forces began to return home after that, and hostilities ceased in March.

Simultaneously, in 1962, the French Air Force also began to retire all of the rest of its B-26s, including the N models. Only four examples of any kind ended up in French museums, with the majority being returned to the US in accordance with their initial lend-lease agreement. Of those that came back to the US, most went to the scrapyard or the civilian market.

Known B-26Ns

• 41-39579
• 43-22609
• 44-34213
• 44-35926

• Sources*

http://www.joebaugher.com/usattack/a26_14.html
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/9767/france-turned-the-b-26-invader-into-a-colonial-night-fighter
http://aviateurs.e-monsite.com/pages/1946-et-annees-suivantes/pilote-d-essais.html