During the World War II, Germans managed to develop their jet fighters which were much faster then the US war planes. Therefore, the US Army Air Force had to make a jet bomber plane to compete the Germans. The US air force also needed a plane, which could achieve military goals on both land and sea. XB-43 came as the solution to this urge. In 1943, Douglas developed the XB-43, which was basically the jet aircraft version of the alternative XB-42. Although the projects began in September 1943, the XB-43 could not reach the designing board before the year 1944.

On 14 January 1944, the AAF ordered two more XB-43s. On 31 March, a formal order contract was approved. The AAF set the expected cost of the two trial aircrafts at about $2.7 million and about $107,000 for the contractor’s fixed payment. In 1944, the Army Air Force defined the exact requirements on XB-43. Requirements included a speed of 420 miles per hour, with a range of 1,445 miles. Additionally the AAF wanted the XB-43 should have a gross mass of 4,000 pound with an 8,000 pound bomb load.

The AAF seriously thought about placing the XB-42 in manufacturing during December 1944. As a consequence, on 30 December, the Air Technical Service Command urged the manufacturer to submit a proposal on the aircrafts production schedule. The manufacturer right away incorporated the XB-43 with TG-180 turbojets, an effective jet engine developed by the General Electric Company. The XB-43 was the first US aircraft to have such facilities. The XB-43 actually was as same as the XB-42 in appearance and in structural design, except that the dual-rotating propeller was absent.

The development of XB-43s was hampered due to the engineering problems it had with the Jet 35. To Start with, General Electric only could deliver the first engine in December 1944. Then Douglas had to change the piping, wiring and sheet metal for making the engine suitable enough to fly. By March 1945, in a bid to resolve the troubles, Douglas had to use over 3,000 man-hours. Moreover, the following engine deliveries were delayed until July 1945 although the scheduled date was October 1944.

In March 1945, the Air Technical Service Command suggested to buy 50s B-43 but the production plan of B-43 did not come as good as planned before - Douglas’s production of 13 test service aircrafts schedule became substandard. As a result, B-43 could not be tested ahead of the B-45 and the B-46. Moreover the B-43 test aircraft did not meet the standard it established earlier. After all these, the Army Air Force decided to stop the production plan of B-43. On 18 August 1945, the AAF also canceled the order of 13 test airplanes.

On 17 May 1946 the (XB-43) aircraft took off for the first time. It could only fly for 8-minutues. Right after the first flight, AAF dismantled the aircraft at Santa Monica, California. Then it was shifted to Muroc Army Airfield for reassembling. On 15 May 1947, the second XB-43 made its first flight. This time it has flown 20 minutes. The AAF operated this flight from Hughes Field in Culver City, California, to Muroc.

After the second run, XB-43 was again in the manufacturing plant. After installing special instruments, the second XB-43 was moved to Hughes Field. Here Douglas tested the aircraft ‘s ground handling and flight characteristics. At that point of time, in a bid to control the cost, the AAF asked Douglas not to fly the XB-43, more than 5 hours.

During production stage, General Electric’s and General Motors Corporation, both were facing labor difficulties. This slowed down Douglas’s progress, as most of the J35 engines were built in these two factories. Not only the engineering setbacks, other issues also hampered XB-43s’ production. For example, there were problems in its nose wheel door operations. A second engineering problem was that the aircraft’s Plexiglas nose cracked under extreme temperatures. Manufacturer at first considered installing metal units; but the cost was too high. Later, wooden noses were installed to solve the problem.

Douglas long last, test-flew the first XB-43 for a little over 9 hours, accumulated in 28 flights while the AAF test-flew it for only 4 hours. Testing of the second XB-43 was even shorter. Douglas flew it for less than 8 hours, gained in 17 flights; the Air Force test-flew it once, just for 1 hour. The AAF finally accepted the first XB-43 on 27 February 1947 and the second one on 27 April 1948.

Altogether, the cost of the XB-42, XB-42A, and the XB-43 programs was around $13.7 million.

The ARDC used the first aircraft of the XB-43 series on variety of tests until February 1951, when a fatal crash ended the aircraft’s career. The second XB-43 went to Muroc where it served as a ‘test-bed’ for the General Electric engine. After totaling more than 300 hours of flight time, the second XB-42 left the Air Force inventory on December 1953. It is now in display at the National Air Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.