The Curtiss A-18 Model 76A Shrike II was a 1930s United States twin-engine ground-attack aircraft. They were assigned to the 8th Attack Squadron, 3rd Attack Group at Barksdale Field, Louisiana in 1937. The squadron won the coveted Harmon Trophy for gunnery and bombing accuracy in their first year of service. During its service with the 8th Attack Squadron, the retractable landing gear of the A-18 had an inherent weakness, with no less than eight of the 13 A-18s suffering from a landing gear collapse on landing or roll-out. The last of the A-18s with the 8th were replaced by early-model A-20 Havocs in 1941.

The A-8 was a low-wing monoplane ground-attack aircraft built by the United States company Curtiss, designed in response to a 1929 United States Army Air Corps requirement for an attack aircraft to replace the A-3 Falcon. The Model 59 "Shrike" was designated XA-8 (the "Shrike" nickname was not officially adopted).

This Junkers design was submitted for the Emergency Fighter Competition in Febuary 1945. The fighter had air intakes at the fuselage sides to divert the boundry-layer air flow to a vent outlet aft of the cockpit fairing. The wings were of wooden construction, swept back 45 degrees and had two small vertical fins and rudders on the wing trailing edges. 540 liters (143 gallons) of fuel were contained in the wings, and a further 1025 liters (271 gallons) were contained in a fuselage tank located just behind the cockpit. A pressurized cockpit was provided with an ejector seat and armor (protection from 12.7 mm rounds from the front, and 20 mm rounds from the rear). Power was supplied by a Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 jet engine, and two MK 108 30 mm cannon were installed in the sides of the fuselage nose with 100 rounds each, with a provision for two more. Good results were obtained with a completed wind tunnel model, and a mock-up fuselage with an HeS 011 jet was built for tests in which it was to be mounted above a Ju 88. An additional night fighter/all-weather fighter with a lengthened fuselage and room for a second crew member was also in the design phase, but neither project was completed due to the war's end.

The North American O-47 was an observation fixed-wing aircraft monoplane used by the United States Army Air Corps. It had a low-wing configuration, retractable landing gear and a three-blade propeller. Training maneuvers in 1941 demonstrated the shortcomings of the O-47. Light airplanes proved more capable of operating with ground troops, while fighters and twin-engine bombers showed greater ability to perform recon and photo duties. Thus, O-47s during World War II, except for those caught at overseas bases by the Japanese attacks, were relegated to such duties as towing targets, coastal patrol, and anti-submarine patrol.