Editing Avro Lancaster (section)

====Assessment====
The Lancaster conducted a total of 156,000 sorties and dropped {{cvt|608612|LT|kg}} of [[bomb]]s between 1942 and 1945. Only 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations and was ultimately retired from service and scrapped in 1947. From 1942 onwards, the Lancaster became the mainstay of the British heavy bomber fleet; by the end of the war in Europe, there were roughly 50 squadrons equipped with the Lancaster, the majority of these being the Lancaster B.I model.<ref name="goul garb 7" /> From its entry into service, the original model of the Lancaster was operated in almost every major bombing raid of the European conflict.<ref name="goul garb 11" />

[[Adolf Galland]] (commander of the Luftwaffe fighters) considered the Lancaster to be "the best night bomber of the war",<ref>Galland 2005, p. 119.</ref> as did his adversary, [[Arthur Harris|Arthur "Bomber" Harris]], who referred to it as Bomber Command's "shining sword".<ref>Iveson 2009, p. 82.</ref> Goulding and Garbett wrote that: "The achievements of the Lancaster and the men who flew it have been widely acclaimed, and the aircraft has been described as the greatest single factor in winning WWII, an exaggeration but a pardonable one".<ref name="goul garb 6"/>

Lancasters from Bomber Command were to have formed the main strength of [[Tiger Force (air)|Tiger Force]], the Commonwealth bomber contingent scheduled to take part in [[Operation Downfall]], the codename for the planned invasion of Japan in late 1945.<ref name="goul garb 11"/> Aircraft allocated to the Tiger Force were painted in white with black undersides and outfitted with additional radio units and navigational aids to facilitate their use in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific theatre]]. The addition of large saddle-type external fuel tanks was considered and trialled in Australia and India, but this was discontinued due to their perceived vulnerability to attack.<ref name="goul garb 11 12">Goulding and Garbett 1966, pp. 11–12.</ref> Together with the new [[Avro Lincoln]] and Liberators, the bombers would have operated from bases on [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]]; the envisioned invasion did not happen when such action was made unnecessary by the [[surrender of Japan]].<ref name="goul garb 11"/>

While the Lancaster was briefly considered for carrying the atomic bomb as being one of the two Allied bombers capable of carrying the atomic bomb internally, after the [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] began to be modified in November 1943  for carrying the new bombs,  the suggestion for using the Lancaster never came up again.<ref>"Lancaster: The Second World War's Greatest Bomber", Leo McKinstry p. 495</ref>  Using the Lancaster would have required less modification to the aircraft itself, but would have necessitated additional crew training for the USAAF crews. In addition, the Lancaster had  a lower ceiling and flew slower so was at risk of the bomb blast. It also had a shorter range. "The B-29 was, therefore, deemed the better bet if it could be modified in time.".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/first-atomic-bombs-black-lancasters | title=Black Lancasters: The story of heavy British bomber and first atomic bombs | date=22 February 2023 }}</ref>  [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[Leslie Groves]], the director of the [[Manhattan Project]], and [[General (United States)|General]] [[Henry H. Arnold]], the Chief of [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF), wished to use an American plane if this was at all possible. "Because the use of a British plane would have caused us many difficulties and delays"<ref>{{cite book |last=Groves |first=Leslie |author-link=Leslie Groves |title=Now it Can be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project |location=New York |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1962 |isbn=0-306-70738-1 |oclc=537684 |pages=254–255}}</ref>

As a byproduct of its sound design and operational success, various developments and derivatives of the Lancaster were produced for both military and civilian purposes. One of these was the [[Avro Lincoln]] bomber, initially designated Lancaster IV and Lancaster V which became the Lincoln B.1 and B.2 respectively. A civilian airliner was converted from the Lancaster with the addition of nose and tail fairings and seats, as the [[Avro Lancastrian|Lancastrian]] and a similar aircraft was derived from the Lincoln as the [[Avro Lincolnian|Lincolnian]]. Other developments included the [[Avro York|York]], a transport with a much larger square section fuselage, and via the Lincoln, the [[Avro Shackleton|Shackleton]] maritime patrol aircraft which continued in RAF service in that role until replaced by the [[Hawker Siddeley Nimrod]] in the early 1970s, but saw further service as an [[airborne early warning]] (AEW) system until finally retired in 1991. The [[Avro Tudor|Tudor]] airliner also used the Lincoln wings, but with a new tubular fuselage.