The Douglas SBD Dauntless was arguably the most important naval aicraft of the Pacific War as it single-handedly turned the tide during the fateful Battle of Midway, where they sank four Japanese fleet carriers. Though large and rugged, it was a rather attractive aircraft and an incredibly stable dive bombing platform despite its slow speed: SBDs could in fact take stress loads of up to 9 Gs, quite a remarkable feat for a World War II-era aircraft. Design features included perforated split flaps and retractable landing gear, the latter which was absent in its two main contemporaries, the Stuka and the Val, and which gave it a more modern appearance; the Dauntless was the only US naval aircraft at the time of Pearl Harbor which was the equal if not superior to its Japanese counterpart. Armament typically composed of one 1,000-lb (later 1,600-lb) bomb attached to a swinging crutch but it could also carry smaller bombs or depth charges under the wings. The majority of Dauntless units were carrier-based and saw heavy action during the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway as well as Guadalcanal where they sank more tons of Japanese shipping than any other weapon. But they served well into 1944 and even participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea despite the fact it was slowly being replaced by the SB2C Helldiver, an aircraft which most Dauntless pilots did not readily prefer and which despite its superior performance was unable to dislodge the SBD as the enduring symbol of the USN's dive bomber fleets. Dauntlesses were also used to some extent during the war by Australia, France, Mexico, New Zealand, and the UK.

The Dauntless was developed from the Northrop BT-1 aircraft with fixed undercarriage. It was redesigned with a retractable undercarriage in the BT-2 which became the first prototype, flying on 23 July 1938 for the first time. Initial orders for the SBD-1 for the USMC and SBD-2 for the USN were placed in early 1939, the latter with increased fuel and armament. The major production variant when the war started was the SBD-3 with even heavier defensive armament, self-sealing fuel tanks and additional armor. Subsequent developments resulted in the SBD-4 with 24-volt electrics, and the SBD-5 which introduced an upgraded engine, slightly lengthened forward fuselage, and reflector sights in place of the earlier protruding telescopic sights. These were also the first variants to use ASB radar. The SBD-6 was the final variant with yet another engine upgrade but was otherwise externally identical. Photo-recon versions produced were the SBD-1P, -2P, and -3P. Success of the Luftwaffe's Stukas also promted the USAAF to show interest, de-navalized versions entered service as the A-24 (SBD-3), A-24A (SBD-4), and A-24B (SBD-5). A small number of A-24B aircraft were sent to the USMC and redesignated SBD-5A.