Originally posted by Karnak
Yes, we need the 1944 SB2C because the 1943 SBD-5 and 1943 TBM-3 are beng so overpowered by the 1936 D3A1 and 1938 B5N2.
We need the SB2C not because it will render the SBD obsolescent, but because a lot of them were built, they were fielded in large numbers, and they were the U.S. Navy's dive bomber at the end of the war. They wouldn't be available in the EW, so the SBD would still have a place--not to mention the SBD's importance as a SEA aircraft. They first saw combat at Rabaul in November of 1943, and there were in excess of 7,000 produced. The rapidity with which HTC delivers the SB2C is up for debate, but ultimately, I'd believe it would be their intent to model the plane. Not holding my breath for it any time soon...
TBM's flew until the end of the war and beyond, as the SB2C was a replacement for the SBD, not the Turkey...