Initially considered a redesign, the XB-22 featured 1,600 hp Wright R-2600-1 Twin Cyclone radial engines.

The B-23 was the first operational American bomber equipped with a glazed tail gun position.

[3] While significantly faster and better armed than the B-18,[4] the B-23 was not comparable to newer medium bombers like the North American B-25 Mitchell and Martin B-26 Marauder.

For this reason, the 38 B-23s built were never used in combat overseas, although for a brief period they were employed as patrol aircraft stationed on the west coast of the United States.

[5] After World War II, many examples were used as executive transports, with appropriate internal modifications, and as a result a large number have survived, both in public and private collections.