With all respect to Mr Shore, the P-39's role was:
- Protect ground units from enemy aircraft
- Escort bombers
- Suppress AAA in the area of bombers
- Reconnaissance
- Free hunt
- Attack soft targets (i.e. troops, convoys, supply dumps, railroads, airfields, barges or other small naval craft)
- Protect high-value friendly targets (i.e. bridges, amphibious landing forces, reserves, command and control, major cities, etc).
Gee, that 350lbs of armour on the Hurrie is less than what the P-39Q had, being 231lb. So what was the worth of the P-39s armour?
At least with an engine in front, some protection is given to the pilot, unlike the engine behind the pilot in the P-39.