Hello everybody. Originally developed as a lightweight dive bomber to succeed the SBD Dauntless and serve on escort carrier fleets, it was later re-categorized as both a dive bomber and torpedo bomber platform. The aircraft was designed to carry a torpedo as well. The XBTK-1 program was running late and was eventually canceled, as the aircraft was no longer needed after the war.
In , the US Navy issued a requirement for a smaller dive bomber design intended for escort carrier operations. Many American escort carriers lacked the capacity to house large dive bombers, which were typically stored alongside torpedo bombers and fighters with folding wings.
As a result, the Navy sought lighter and slimmer dive bombers to complement its growing escort carrier fleet. The armament was to include two wing-mounted cannons, and to keep the aircraft compact, all three stores would be mounted externally and rated for up to 1, lbs. A key feature was the ability to fold the wings for improved storage aboard escort carriers.
This company was an oddball in military aircraft production, as it primarily built trainers and other light civilian aircraft with no prior experience in combat aircraft design. In March , the contract was amended to increase the number of aircraft to five. By fall , Kaiser-Fleetwings presented a mockup for review, and the Navy awarded a pending contract for 17 pre-production units in October.
However, the Navy decided to categorize the Kaiser-Fleetwings XBK as a bomber-torpedo aircraft, leading the company to revise the design to accommodate a 2,lb MK torpedo.
