The F6F series were designed to take damage and get the pilot safely back to base. A bullet-resistant windshield and a total of 212 lb (96 kg) of cockpit armor was fitted, along with armor around the oil tank and oil cooler. A 250 gal (946 l) self-sealing fuel tank was fitted in the fuselage. Standard armament on the F6F-3 consisted of six .50 in (12.7 mm) M2/AN Browning air-cooled machine gun with 400 rounds per gun. A center-section hardpoint under the fuselage could carry a single 150 gal (568 l) disposable drop tank, while later aircraft had single bomb racks installed under each wing, inboard of the undercarriage bays; with these and the center-section hard point late model F6F-3s could carry a total bomb-load in excess of 2,000 lb (900 kg). Six 5 in (127 mm) HVARs (High Velocity Aircraft Rocket) could be carried; three under each wing on "zero-length" launchers.
Two night fighter sub-variants of the F6F-3 were developed: the 18 F6F-3E's were converted from standard -3s and featured the AN/APS-4 radar in a pod mounted on a rack beneath the right wing, with a small radar-scope fitted in the middle of the main instrument panel and radar operating controls installed on the port side of the cockpit. The later F6F-3N, first flown in July 1943, was fitted with the AN/APS-6 radar in the fuselage, with the antenna dish in a bulbous fairing mounted on the leading-edge of the outer right wing; approximately 200 F6F-3Ns were built. Hellcat night fighters claimed their first victories in November 1943. A total of 4,402 F6F-3s were built through until April 1944, when production was changed to the F6F-5.
Drie uitvoeringen mogelijk;
- Flown by Cmdr.D.McCampbell, CVG-15 USS Essex, Oktober 1944 Leyte.
- Flown by Lt.Cmdr.A.Vraciu, VF-6 USS Intrepid, February 1944.
- Flown by Cmdr.D.Mccampbell, CVG-15 USS Essex, September 1944