The USAAF was not impressed by its performance and cancelled the contract when fewer than half of the aircraft ordered had been produced. Although no P-59s went into combat, it paved the way for another design generation of US turbojet-powered aircraft and was the first turbojet fighter to have its turbojet engine and inlet nacelles integrated within the main fuselage. Major General Henry H. Arnold became aware of the United Kingdom's jet program when he attended a demonstration of the Gloster E.28/39 in April 1941. The subject had been mentioned, but not in depth, as part of the Tizard Mission the previous year. He requested, and was given, the plans for the aircraft's powerplant, which he took back to the US. On 4 September, he offered General Electric a contract to produce an American version of the engine. On the following day, he approached Lawrence Bell to build a fighter to utilize it. Bell agreed and set to work on producing three prototypes. As a disinformation tactic, the USAAF gave the project the designation P-59A, to suggest it was a development of a completely unrelated Bell XP-59 fighter project that had been cancelled. The design was finalized on 9 January 1942, and construction began. In March, long before the prototypes were completed, an order for 13 YP-59 pre-production machines was added to the contract.

On 12 September 1942, the first XP-59A arrived at Muroc Army Air Field (today, Edwards Air Force Base) in California for testing. While being handled on the ground, the aircraft was fitted with a dummy propeller to disguise its true nature. The aircraft first became airborne during high-speed taxiing tests on 1 October with Bell test pilot Robert Stanley at the controls, although the first official flight was made by Col Laurence Craigie the next day. Over the following months, tests on the three XP-59As revealed a multitude of problems including poor engine response and reliability (common shortcomings of all early turbojets) and performance that was far below expectations. Nevertheless, even before delivery of the YP-59As in June 1943, the USAAF ordered 80 production machines, designated P-59A Airacomet.

• Crew: 1
• Length: 38 ft 2 in (11.63 m)
• Wingspan: 45 ft 6 in (13.87 m)
• Height: 12 ft 4 in (3.76 m)
• Wing area: 386 ft² (35.9 m²)
• Empty weight: 7,940 lb (3,600 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 12,700 lb (5,760 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× General Electric I-A turbojets, 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN) each

• Maximum speed: 413 mph (664 km/h)
• Range: 240 mi (386 km)
• Service ceiling 46,200 ft (14,080 m)
• Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16,26 m/s)

• Guns
• 1x 37 mm cannon
• 3x .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns