The Lightning was the first military airplane developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was designed to meet a US Army Air Corps specification issued in 1936 for a twin-engined interceptor fighter, a specification which called for - among many other stringent requirements - a minimum speed of 360 mph (576 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m).

The design was accepted by the Army Air Corps on 23 June 1937, and the XP-38 prototype was delivered in January 1939. It made its first flight on 27 January 1929 but crashed at the end of a record transcontinental flight from California to New York on 11 February. The XP-38 was fitted with two 1,040 hp (775 kW) Allison V-1710-33 (C15) engines with exhaust-driven General Electric turbo-superchargers and driving Curtiss electric inwardly-rotating airscrews.

Height (m): 3.91
Wing Span (m): 15.84
Top Speed: 414 mph
Ceiling (feet): 44,000
Weight (lbs): 21,600
Range: 450 miles
Crew: 1

One 20 mm cannon and four .50 cal machine-guns in compartment in nose of central nacelle.

Twin-engined single-seat fighter, fighter-bomber, and reconnaissance aircraft.