Along with its use as a general fighter, the P-38 was used in various aerial combat roles, including as a highly effective fighter-bomber, a night fighter, and as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks.
Allied propaganda claimed it had been nicknamed the fork-tailed devil ( German: der Gabelschwanz-Teufel) by the Luftwaffe and 'two planes, one pilot' by the Japanese. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seated, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II.
