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141-522: The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II . The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter" to meet the RAF requirement for day and night fighters that could concentrate their firepower on enemy bombers which were not expected to have fighter escorts due to the distance from Germany to

282-569: A boxcar . Similarly, their pilots were given less training in combat maneuvers, and more in radio-directed pursuit. The Soviets' main interceptor was initially the Su-9 , which was followed by the Su-15 and the MiG-25 "Foxbat". The auxiliary Tu-128 , an area range interceptor, was notably the heaviest fighter aircraft ever to see service in the world. The latest and most advanced interceptor aircraft in

423-615: A Bf 109, which set their Defiant on fire; they managed to shoot down the German fighter before making a forced landing. For this, they were awarded a bar to the Distinguished Flying Medal . The squadron lost a further five aircraft (to JG 26 ) on 28 August, with nine crew killed, and effectively ended operations, withdrawing to RAF Duxford the following day. With these losses, the Defiant—which had been intended from

564-590: A British bombing raid. A "Special Duties Flight" was set up in May 1942 to use the new countermeasures equipment, with "Moonshine" being used for its first live test on 6 August 1942. Subsequently, it was used operationally as part of "Circuses" against coastal targets and on 19 August in support of the Dieppe Raid. The Flight became No. 515 Squadron RAF on 1 October 1942, operations with "Moonshine" continuing until November 1942. 515 Squadron continued operations with

705-485: A brief period of time they fared rapid development in both speed, range, and altitude. At the end of the 1960s, a nuclear attack became unstoppable with the introduction of ballistic missiles capable of approaching from outside the atmosphere at speeds as high as 3 to 4 miles per second (5 to 7 km/s). The doctrine of mutually assured destruction replaced the trend of defense strengthening, making interceptors less strategically logical. The utility of interceptors waned as

846-462: A chosen aspect of performance. A "point defense interceptor" is of a lightweight design, intended to spend most of its time on the ground located at the defended target, and able to launch on demand, climb to altitude, manoeuvre and then attack the bomber in a very short time, before the bomber can deploy its weapons. At the end of Second World War, the Luftwaffe ' s most critical requirement

987-425: A circle, they claimed six German fighters for the loss of three Defiants. The Defiant was initially successful against enemy aircraft and its best day was 29 May, when No. 264 Squadron claimed 37 kills in two sorties: 19 Ju 87 Stuka s, mostly picked off as they came out of their dives, nine Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engined heavy fighters, eight Bf 109s, and a Ju 88. One Defiant gunner was lost after he bailed out but

1128-459: A command centre in the Horse Guards building. The Pup proved to have too low performance to easily intercept Gotha G.IV bombers, and the superior Sopwith Camels supplanted them. The term "interceptor" was in use by 1929. Through the 1930s, bomber aircraft speeds increased so much that conventional interceptor tactics appeared impossible. Visual and acoustic detection from the ground had

1269-574: A counterpoint, aviation author John Taylor noted that during the Blitz on London of 1940–41, the four Defiant-equipped squadrons were responsible for shooting down more enemy aircraft than any other type in the theatre. The improved Defiant Mk II model was fitted with the AI Mk. IV radar and a Merlin XX engine, increasing the aircraft's performance, particularly at night time. In September 1941, 264 Squadron became

1410-403: A crank-operated mechanical backup. Small bombs could be housed in recesses in the outer wing. Some of the development work from the company's earlier B.1/35 tender was carried over into the P.82. In 1936, Boulton Paul commenced assembly on the first P.82 prototype, K8310 , at their new Wolverhampton facility; an order for a second prototype, K8620 , was received by the following year. In 1937,

1551-560: A flight of Bf 109Es. The escorting Spitfires were unable to prevent five of the six Defiants from being shot down by a frontal attack. During the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk , the squadron was based at RAF Manston , as one of the 16 squadrons that No. 11 Group had for the evacuation. On 27 May 264 Squadron claimed three He 111 and two damaged. On 28 May, shortly after take-off, 10 Defiants were attacked by about 30 Bf 109s – forming

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1692-488: A flight of six Defiants flew with six Spitfires of 66 Squadron over the English Channel to the coastline in the vicinity of The Hague , Netherlands ; during this flight, a single Ju 88, which had been in the process of attacking a destroyer , was shot down. The following day, in a patrol that was a repetition of the first, Defiants claimed four Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, but were subsequently attacked by

1833-411: A forward base. On 24 August, nine Defiants of 264 scrambled from Manston to engage an incoming German force; in the ensuing engagement, three Ju 88s and a single Bf 109E were shot down for the loss of two Defiants. Later that same day, another cluster of bombers appeared and were engaged by seven Defiants that had been in the process of refuelling; three Ju 88s and two Bf 109Es were downed while one Defiant

1974-524: A further 280 were ordered under a rearranged manufacturing plan issued in mid-1940. However, the performance of the Defiant had been determined to be inadequate by this point, which led to manufacturing being sustained principally for economic reasons. A total of 713 Defiant Mk I aircraft were completed. In response to a service request which sought greater performance, the Defiant Mk II , powered by

2115-402: A great weakness in daylight combat with fighters. It was withdrawn from daytime operations for use as a night fighter and found success in combination with the use of aircraft interception radar (A.I.) to locate the enemy. It eventually equipped thirteen squadrons in this role, compared to just two squadrons as a day-fighter, though this was mainly due to slow initial production. In mid-1942 it

2256-525: A lesser degree, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 , which had heavy armament specifically intended for anti-bomber missions, was also a specialized day interceptor. Night fighters and bomber destroyers are interceptors of the heavy type, although initially they were rarely referred to as such. In the early Cold War era the combination of jet -powered bombers and nuclear weapons created air force demand for highly capable interceptors; it

2397-516: A little like a wetsuit of today. The chute fitted around this, and then the dinghy and the outer clothing. There was inner webbing and pockets that literally fell apart (I presume) when one bailed out". In October 1939, No. 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron was reformed at RAF Sutton Bridge to operate the Defiant. Initial training, formal squadron acceptance, and development of tactics began with other aircraft as it received its first Defiants only in early December at Martlesham Heath. In February 1940,

2538-403: A manufacturer would design and build an aircraft using their own money as a "private venture" (PV). This would then be offered to the ministry for evaluation. The ministry may well release a specification based on the private venture aircraft if the plane aroused interest from the RAF or the ministry due to its performance or some other combination of features. The system of producing aircraft to

2679-472: A much larger area from attack, depending on greater detection capabilities, both in the aircraft themselves and operating with AWACS, rather than high speed to reach targets. The exemplar of this concept was the Tupolev Tu-28 . The later Panavia Tornado ADV was able to achieve long range in a smaller airframe through the use of more efficient engines. Rather than focusing on acceleration and climb rate,

2820-694: A pair of proposals for interceptor aircraft, the first such designation in the US. One proposal was for a single-engine fighter, the other for a twin-engine. Both were required to reach an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 m) in six minutes as a defense against bomber attack. Kelsey said later that he used the interceptor designation to sidestep a hard USAAC policy restricting fighters to 500 pounds (230 kg) of armament. He wished for at least 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of armament so that American fighters could dominate their battles against all opponents, fighters included. The two aircraft resulting from these proposals were

2961-417: A pattern. A leading letter was usually present to identify the aircraft purpose. The codes used included B for "heavy bomber ", e.g., B.12/36, P for "medium bomber", e.g., P.13/36, F for " fighter ", e., F.10/35, and A for "army co-operation", e., A.39/34. The second part was a number identifying it in sequence and then after the slash, the year it was formulated, so in the example given above, B.12/36 signifies

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3102-510: A range of only a few miles, which meant that an interceptor would have insufficient time to climb to altitude before the bombers reached their targets. Standing combat air patrols were possible but only at great cost. The conclusion at the time was that " the bomber will always get through ". The invention of radar made possible early, long-range detection of aircraft on the order of 100 miles (160 km), both day and night and in all weather. A typical bomber might take twenty minutes to cross

3243-628: A response to the commencement of heavy attacks upon London by the Luftwaffe , known as the Blitz , B Flight of No. 141 moved to RAF Biggin Hill , Bromley , while A Flight relocated to Gatwick Airport , West Sussex in October prior to moving to RAF Gravesend , Kent. Successful claimed interceptions took place, such as two He 111s being claimed on 15/16 September; the first confirmed kill by Defiant of

3384-457: A special all-in-one garment, a 'parasuit', nicknamed the "rhino suit". Frederick "Gus" Platts, an air gunner who served in 230, 282 and 208 squadrons, stated: "The Rhino suit we had to wear on Defiants was a bear but I couldn't come up with an alternative, even though it killed dozens of us. I forget the details of it but we could not have sat on our chute or even keep it nearby as in other turrets, so you wore – all in one – an inner layer that fitted

3525-432: A specification for a heavy bomber , the twelfth specification of all types issued in 1936 . Specifications were not always issued in sequence. Admiralty specifications were identified by the letter N (Naval), e., N.21/45, and experimental specifications identified by the letter E (Experimental), e., E.28/39, with training aircraft signified by the letter T (Training), e., T.23/31, and unpowered aircraft , signified by

3666-520: A specification ran from 1920 to 1949 during which the Air Ministry was replaced by first the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) in 1940 and then the Ministry of Supply (MoS) in 1946. The system was applied to commercial aircraft as well, two being the de Havilland Comet and Vickers Viscount . During the period, over 800 specifications were issued. Each specification name usually followed

3807-619: A step and roughly doubled operational altitudes. Although radars also improved in performance, the gap between offense and defense was dramatically reduced. Large attacks could so confuse the defense's ability to communicate with pilots that the classic method of manual ground controlled interception was increasingly seen as inadequate. In the United States, this led to the introduction of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment to computerize this task, while in

3948-453: A very high fuel consumption. This led fighter prototypes emphasizing acceleration and operational ceiling, with a sacrifice on the loiter time, essentially limiting them to point defense role. Such were the mixed jet/rocket power Republic XF-91 or Saunders Roe SR.53 . The Soviet and Western trials with zero-length launch were also related. None of these found practical use. Designs that depended solely on jet engines achieved more success with

4089-434: A winch operator under an enclosed canopy. In January 1942, the prototype Defiant TT Mk I, DR863 , conducted its maiden flight; fighter production was phased out shortly thereafter. The last Defiant Mk IIs under construction were completed as TT Mk I aircraft. Dozens of existing Defiant Mk Is would be remanufactured to the similar Defiant TT Mk III standard; roughly 150 of such conversions took place during 1943–1944. So that

4230-534: A year ahead of the rival Hotspur but still without the turret. Official acceptance trials did not commence until nine months later. On 30 July 1939, the second prototype, K8620 , equipped with a Merlin II engine and a full turret, conducted its first flight. K8620 had received various modifications over the first prototype, such as telescopic radio masts and revisions to the canopy and to the undercarriage fairing plates; implementing these improvements had incurred delays to

4371-559: Is in regards to this period that the term is perhaps most recognized and used. Cold War-era interceptors became increasingly distinct from their air superiority counterparts, with the former often sacrificing range, endurance, and maneuverability for speed, rate of climb , and armament dedicated to attacking large strategic bombers . Examples of classic interceptors of this era include the Convair F-106 Delta Dart , Sukhoi Su-15 , and English Electric Lightning . Through

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4512-446: Is that interceptors often look very impressive on paper, typically outrunning, outclimbing and outgunning slower fighter designs. However, pure interceptors fare poorly in fighter-to-fighter combat against the same "less capable" designs due to limited maneuverability especially at low altitudes and speeds. In the spectrum of various interceptors, one design approach especially shows sacrifices necessary to achieve decisive benefit in

4653-529: Is used in service would change from that for which the specification to which it was designed was issued, and so there are some discrepancies and inconsistencies in designation, the Royal Navy in particular liking to specify multiple roles for its aircraft in an attempt to make the best use of the necessarily limited hangar space onboard its aircraft carriers . In this case this resulted in several types designed to specifications originally intended to signify

4794-617: The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) in September that year. Apart from some detail changes, the production Defiant Mk I looked similar to the two Defiant prototypes. It was powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin III engine, which was capable of generating 1,030 hp/768 kW or 1,160 hp/865 kW. By January 1940, over half of the original production batch had been completed. Beyond

4935-630: The Battle of Britain , when the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane were part of a successful defensive strategy. However, dramatic improvements in both ground-based and airborne radar gave greater flexibility to existing fighters and few later designs were conceived as dedicated day interceptors. Exceptions include the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet , which was the only rocket-powered, crewed military aircraft to see combat. To

5076-682: The Boulton Paul Overstrand bomber, and had devised a four-gun power-operated turret, the concept and development work of which would later be a core part of the Defiant design. Boulton Paul had acquired a four-gun powered turret from the French SAMM company in 1935. In April 1935, the Air Ministry released Specification F.9/35 , which required a two-seater day and night "turret fighter" capable of 290 miles per hour (470 km/h) at 15,000 feet (4,600 m). The aircraft

5217-536: The British Army , it was determined that Defiant production would continue in order to satisfy a pressing requirement for high speed gunnery targets. A dedicated version of the aircraft, the Defiant TT Mk I , was developed for this purpose; modifications included the removal of the turret, the installation of target-towing equipment, including a target stowage box and a wind-driven winch, and the addition of

5358-601: The F-104 Starfighter (initial A version) and the English Electric Lightning . The role of crewed point defense designs was reassigned to uncrewed interceptors— surface-to-air missiles (SAMs)—which first reached an adequate level in 1954–1957. SAM advancements ended the concept of massed high-altitude bomber operations, in favor of penetrators (and later cruise missiles ) flying a combination of techniques colloquially known as "flying below

5499-627: The F-86D and F-89 Scorpion . In the late 1940s ADC started a project to build a much more advanced interceptor under the 1954 interceptor effort, which eventually delivered the F-106 Delta Dart after a lengthy development process. Further replacements were studied, notably the NR-349 proposal during the 1960s, but came to nothing as the USSR strengthened their strategic force with ICBMs. Hence,

5640-487: The Handley Page Hampden and Handley Page Hereford . Typographical designation of mark numbers (Mk.) varied over time and inconsistencies are common, e.g., Mark II , Mk. II , II , etc. Initially Roman numerals were used, changing to Arabic numerals post- World War II , e.g., Supermarine Spitfire Mk I to Supermarine Spitfire Mk 24 . Note 1: where possible mark numbers are given here in this list in

5781-637: The Kent Battle of Britain Museum in the colours of 264 Squadron ( L7005 ). Data from War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Two Fighters , The Boulton Paul Defiant Interceptor aircraft For daytime operations, conventional light fighters have normally filled the interceptor role. Day interceptors have been used in a defensive role since World War I , and are perhaps best known from major actions like

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5922-509: The Manufacturer X.XX/XX , e.g., the Avro B.35/46 – this is in addition to the manufacturer's own separate internal designation for the aircraft, e.g., Avro 698. With several manufacturers submitting designs to the same specification this could result in a number of different aircraft with the same X.XX/XX designation, e.g., Handley Page B.35/46 , etc. Upon acceptance of the design(s)

6063-658: The Manufacturer Service-name , e.g., the Avro Anson , however upon acceptance of a new variant the previous (initial) version automatically became the 'Mark I', so in the example given, the previous (first) version of the Anson retrospectively became the Avro Anson Mk I upon acceptance of an Avro Anson Mk II . Sometimes planned variants would be later cancelled leading to 'missing' mark numbers, or

6204-544: The 1,260 hp Merlin XX engine, was promptly developed. On 20 July 1940, N1550 , the first production Defiant Mk II performed its initial flight. The Mk II featured a pressurised fuel system, additional fuel, an enlarged rudder , a deeper radiator , a modified engine mounting and elongated cowling . Once sufficient numbers of the Merlin XX engine were available, production of the improved variant commenced; in August 1941,

6345-515: The 1920s and 1930s had resulted in a generation of multi-engined monoplane bombers that were substantially faster than their contemporary single-engined biplane fighters then in service. The RAF came to believe that its new generation of turret-armed bombers, such as the Vickers Wellington , would be capable of readily penetrating enemy airspace and of defending themselves without any accompanying fighter escort, but also recognised that

6486-477: The 1960s and 1970s, the rapid improvements in design led to most air-superiority and multirole fighters , such as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle , having the performance to take on the point defense interception role, and the strategic threat moved from bombers to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Dedicated interceptor designs became increasingly rare, with

6627-673: The AI radar were adopted over time, such as the AI Mk VI. The need for both the Defiant (and the Hurricane) in the night fighter role petered out by 1942 as the larger Bristol Beaufighter became the RAF's primary night fighter type, freeing both aircraft for other duties. In the search for alternative uses for the Defiant, which included limited service with the RAF Search and Rescue Force and suitability trials for cooperative operations with

6768-808: The BAC Lightning; the British Aircraft Corporation itself and Hawker Siddeley (HS) then later merged and became British Aerospace , subsequently becoming BAe (now BAE Systems ). Thus the previously mentioned Avro Vulcan was subsequently referred to as the Hawker Siddeley Vulcan; similarly, the Blackburn Buccaneer later became the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer. Where possible, for clarity the aircraft in this list are listed under

6909-839: The Boulton Paul Heritage Society. More than 50,000 man hours went into its production and it was unveiled in 2003 marking 60 years since the last Defiant flew out of Pendeford (the World War II training airfield next to the Boulton Paul Factory in Wolverhampton). Due to change of ownership at the Boulton Paul site, the Defiant faced losing its home in Wolverhampton, and in 2015 was relocated to its now permanent home on display at

7050-461: The Brownings. The guns could be depressed for ground attack. By that time, the RAF had sufficient quantities of Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires and did not require a new single-seat fighter. With a calculated top speed of about 360 miles per hour (580 km/h) at 21,700 feet (6,600 m) the P.94 was almost as fast as a contemporary Spitfire although less manoeuvrable. The Defiant

7191-469: The Defiant Mk III, was developed in response to a growing demand for such a type; this model featured considerable modifications for the role, such as lacking the dorsal turret. Many of the surviving Mk I and Mk II Defiants also had their turrets removed when they were converted for the same role. In this final target towing variant, the Defiant ended up with a number of overseas assignments with both

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7332-435: The Defiant commenced night fighter training operations; the squadron tested its tactics against British medium bombers – Hampdens and Blenheims  – and 264's CO flew against Robert Stanford Tuck in a Spitfire, showing that the Defiant could defend itself by circling and keeping its speed up. It became clear during these trials that the Defiant was suited only to performing its designed for bomber-destroyer duties and

7473-481: The Defiant was tested as a high-speed gunnery trainer with the Air Ministry agreeing to continue production. The Defiant was removed from combat duties in 1942 and used for training, target towing, electronic countermeasures and air-sea rescue . Two types of electronic countermeasures equipment were carried by the Defiant, both countering the German Freya early warning radar. The first system to be deployed

7614-571: The Defiants had shot down four Bf 109s. Although 264 Squadron claimed 48 kills in eight days over Dunkirk, the cost was high with 14 Defiants lost. Actual German losses were no more than 12–15 enemy aircraft; the turret's wide angle of fire meant that several Defiants could engage the same target at one time, leading to multiple claims. On 22 August, in response to an urgent demand for aircraft to defend Britain's airspace, 264 Squadron relocated to RAF Hornchurch , Essex , while also using RAF Manston as

7755-476: The F-106 ended up serving as the primary USAF interceptor into the 1980s. As the F-106 was retired, intercept missions were assigned to the contemporary F-15 and F-16 fighters, among their other roles. The F-16, however, was originally designed for air superiority while evolving into a versatile multirole fighter. The F-15, with its Mach 2.5 maximum speed enabling it to intercept the fastest enemy aircraft (namely

7896-750: The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom as its primary interceptor from the mid-1970s, with the air defence variant (ADV) of the Panavia Tornado being introduced in the 1980s. The Tornado was eventually replaced with a multirole design, the Eurofighter Typhoon . The Shenyang J-8 is a high-speed, high-altitude Chinese-built single-seat interceptor. Initially designed in the early 1960s to counter US-built B-58 Hustler bombers, F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bombers and Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance planes, it still retains

8037-669: The MiG-25 Foxbat), is also not a pure interceptor as it has exceptional agility for dogfighting based upon the lessons learned from Vietnam; the F-15E Strike Eagle variant adds air interdiction while retaining the interception and air-to-air combat of other F-15s. Presently, the F-22 is the USA's latest combat aircraft that serves in part as an interceptor due to its Mach 2+ speed as well as supercruise capabilities, however it

8178-517: The ORIGINATING company's name or the name of the manufacturer under which it first entered production. Specifications within the tables are listed in numerical order by year of issue; where a given number appears more than once, with one or more letter prefixes, the entries are presented in alphabetical order. In 1917, the Air Board began to issue specifications for new aircraft on behalf of

8319-586: The P.82 was its four-gun turret, based on a design by French aviation company Société d'applications des machines motrices  [ fr ] (SAMM), which had been licensed by Boulton Paul for use in the earlier Boulton Paul Sidestrand bomber, eventually installed in the "follow-up" design, the Boulton Paul Overstrand and in the Blackburn Roc naval fighter. The 'Type A' turret was an electro-hydraulically powered "drop-in" unit, with

8460-812: The RAF and Fleet Air Arm in the Middle East, Africa and India. Further deployments occurred to Canada, where the Defiant was used as a target tug and trainer with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan . Defiants were also used for "special" work including tactical evaluations with the RAF Gunnery Research Unit and the Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU) at Farnborough . Two Defiants were issued for ejection seat development work: one to R Malcolm Ltd (later ML Aviation) and

8601-542: The RAF, and these were only for trial purposes, by the outbreak of the Second World War. Due to delays with the type entering production, there were not enough available Defiants to begin standing patrols in 1940, by which point the introduction of not only more advanced fighters but bombers as well had allegedly undermined the usefulness of the type. On 30 July 1939, the first production Defiant, L6950 , conducted its maiden flight; it commenced official trials with

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8742-417: The Soviet (now Russian) inventory is the MiG-31 "Foxhound". Improving on some of the flaws on the proceeding MiG-25, the MiG-31 has better low altitude and low speed performance, in addition to carrying an internal cannon. Russia, despite merging the PVO into the VVS, continues to maintain its dedicated MiG-31 interceptor fleet. In 1937, USAAC lieutenants Gordon P. Saville and Benjamin S. Kelsey devised

8883-414: The UK it led to enormously powerful radars to improve detection time. The introduction of the first useful surface to air missiles in the 1950s obviated the need for fast reaction time interceptors as the missile could launch almost instantly. Air forces increasingly turned to much larger interceptor designs, with enough fuel for longer endurance, leaving the point-defense role to the missiles. This led to

9024-641: The United Kingdom. The Defiant had all its armament in a dorsal turret offering the ability to fire in most directions. The same principle was used in the Royal Navy 's Blackburn Roc which was also built by Boulton Paul. In combat, the Defiant was found to be effective at destroying bombers, the role it was designed for, but was vulnerable to the Luftwaffe ' s more manoeuvrable, single-seat Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters operating from bases in Northern France. The Defiant had been designed to destroy unescorted bombers by means of beam or ventral attacks and therefore lacked forward-firing armament, which proved to be

9165-415: The abandonment of a number of short-range designs like the Avro Arrow and Convair F-102 in favor of much larger and longer-ranged designs like the North American F-108 and MiG-25 . In the 1950s and 1960’s during the Cold War , a strong interceptor force was crucial for the opposing superpowers as it was the best means to defend against an unexpected nuclear attack by strategic bombers . Hence, for

9306-470: The ability to 'sprint' at Mach 2+ speeds, and later versions can carry medium-range PL-12/SD-10 MRAAM missiles for interception purposes. The PLAAF/PLANAF currently still operates approximately 300 or so J-8s of various configurations. Several other countries also introduced interceptor designs, although in the 1950s–1960s several planned interceptors never came to fruition, with the expectation that missiles would replace bombers. The Argentine FMA I.Ae. 37

9447-431: The ability to engage enemy bombers from a range of quarters, including below the aircraft itself. Specification F.9/35 had followed the earlier Specification F.5/33, which had sought a pusher design combined with a forward-set turret; F.5/33 had been abandoned as the proposals had offered little in terms of performance gains over existing fighters, and the corresponding Armstrong Whitworth AW.34 design which had been ordered

9588-434: The advantages of flexible firing in nightfighting but the effect on top speed (for the Beaufighter reduced from 303 mph to 272 mph at altitude) was not acceptable and those conversions were abandoned. Further developments were considered using more powerful engines, but the idea of a Defiant replacement was finally dropped in 1942 After trials in 1940 with the School of Army Co-operation to assess its capabilities in that role,

9729-419: The air-sea rescue role, the Defiant was the intended replacement for the Westland Lysander in shallow air-sea rescue units. In order for this task to be performed, Defiants in this capacity were equipped with a pair of underwing pods that each contained two M -type dinghies. In March 1942, No. 281 Squadron formed at RAF Ouston , Northumberland , partially operating Defiant Mk Is; four more squadrons received

9870-399: The aircraft themselves. They were first to introduce all-weather avionics , assuring successful operations during night, rain, snow, or fog. Countries that were strategically dependent on surface fleet, most notably US and UK, maintained also fleet defense fighters , such as the F-14 Tomcat . During the Cold War , an entire military service, not just an arm of the pre-existing air force,

10011-399: The aircraft to possess positive flight characteristics and considerable stability, which was of particular value when using the turret. According to aviation author Michael Bowyer, the usefulness of the Defiant had suffered due to the overly long development time for the type, observing that the Defiant's service entry was delayed to such an extent that only three production aircraft had reached

10152-400: The aircraft would be used for. This in turn led to the specification itself, e.g. a two-engined fighter with four machine guns. So for example, OR.40 for a heavy bomber led to Specification B.12/36. Aircraft manufacturers would be invited to present design proposals to the ministry, following which prototypes of one or more of the proposals might be ordered for evaluation. On very rare occasions,

10293-458: The bombers of other European air forces, such as the Luftwaffe , would similarly be able to penetrate British airspace with impunity. During 1935, the concept of a turret-armed defensive fighter to counter the bomber threat emerged during a time in which the RAF anticipated having to defend Great Britain against massed formations of unescorted enemy bombers. The RAF did not expect bombers to be escorted by fighters because fighters would not have

10434-447: The bombers, but this proved impractical particularly as the Defiant's radio reception (due to its underslung antenna) was relatively poor. On 1 July, 141 Squadron despatched L6997 on the first Defiant night patrol. In August, the squadron was operating both by day and night; on 15 August, the first possible nighttime success by a Defiant was recorded, and from September onwards, the squadron principally operated at night. In September, as

10575-697: The bombing raids. Rocket-boosted variants of both of Germany's jet fighters; the Me 262 in its "C" subtype series, all nicknamed "home protector" ( Heimatschützer , in four differing formats) and the planned He 162 E subtype, using one of the same BMW 003R turbojet/rocket "mixed-power" engine as the Me 262C-2b Heimatschützer II , but were never produced in quantity. In the initial stage of Cold War , bombers were expected to attack flying higher and faster, even at transonic speeds. Initial transonic and supersonic fighters had modest internal fuel tanks in their slim fuselages, but

10716-559: The completion of the second prototype. Production orders had been prepared for the Hotspur, the initial front-running submission but Boulton Paul's turret design had gained the attention of the Air Ministry. Hawker's progress on the project had been delayed by their commitments on other aircraft programs including the more conventional Hurricane; thus the prototype Hotspur, K8309 , did not conduct its maiden flight until 14 June 1938. On 28 April 1937, an initial production order for 87 aircraft

10857-432: The contemporaneous Gloster F.9/37 (Gloster G9) twin-engine bomber-interceptor – armed with five 20mm cannon at +12° – virtually all losses of Bomber Command aircraft shot down by Luftwaffe night fighters using upward-firing were ascribed to flak until 1944. The gunner operated the turret through a control column with the firing button on the top. The motor could be put in high speed mode for swift changes of direction and

10998-631: The defending fighters. The Me 163 required an airbase, however, which were soon under constant attack. Following the Emergency Fighter Program , the Germans developed even odder designs, such as the Bachem Ba 349 Natter , which launched vertically and thus eliminated the need for an airbase. In general all these initial German designs proved difficult to operate, often becoming death traps for their pilots, and had little effect on

11139-458: The design emphasis is on range and missile carrying capacity, which together translate into combat endurance, look-down/shoot-down radars good enough to detect and track fast moving interdictors against ground clutter , and the capability to provide guidance to air-to-air missiles (AAM) against these targets. High speed and acceleration was put into long-range and medium-range AAMs, and agility into short range dog fighting AAMs, rather than into

11280-464: The detection zone of early radar systems, time enough for interceptor fighters to start up, climb to altitude and engage the bombers. Ground controlled interception required constant contact between the interceptor and the ground until the bombers became visible to the pilots and nationwide networks like the Dowding system were built in the late 1930s to coordinate these efforts. During World War II

11421-407: The drag of the turret; they were pneumatically powered and automatically raised and lowered into the fuselage so that the turret could rotate freely. The Brownings were electrically fired and insulated cut-off points in the turret ring prevented the guns firing when they were pointing at the propeller disc or tailplane. The gunner could rotate the turret directly forward and transfer firing control of

11562-405: The effectiveness of interceptor aircraft meant that bombers often needed to be escorted by long range fighter aircraft. Many aircraft were able to be fitted with Aircraft interception radar , further facilitating the interception of enemy aircraft. The introduction of jet power increased flight speeds from around 300 miles per hour (500 km/h) to around 600 miles per hour (1,000 km/h) in

11703-591: The event of a war between the Soviet Union and NATO. With the advent of low flying cruise-missiles and high-altitude AA-missiles the flight profile was changed, but regained the interceptor profile with the final version J 35J. List of Air Ministry specifications This is a partial list of the British Air Ministry (AM) specifications for aircraft . A specification stemmed from an Operational Requirement , abbreviated "OR", describing what

11844-657: The extent of the changes may have justified given the new variant a completely new name, e.g., the Hawker Typhoon II subsequently becoming the Hawker Tempest , or the Avro Lancaster B.IV & B.V entering service as the Avro Lincoln . In a few cases the same aircraft ordered with differing engines would be allocated separate names for each variant, e.g., Hawker Typhoon and Hawker Tornado , or

11985-407: The external fuel lines were detached. However, keeping QRA aircraft at this state of readiness was physically and mentally draining to the pilots and was expensive in terms of fuel. As an alternative, longer-range designs with extended loiter times were considered. These area defense interceptors or area defense fighters were in general larger designs intended to stay on lengthy patrol and protect

12126-401: The final service names would usually be chosen by the Air Ministry when they placed a production order, in the above B.35/46 cases, where two aircraft were accepted to this specification, Vulcan and Victor respectively. Upon entering service, in the absence of any already-planned variants a new type would initially have no mark number after the aircraft name, being simply referred to as

12267-491: The first P.82 prototype, K8310 , was rolled out. Furnished with a 1,030 hp (768 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin I and initially lacking its turret, the aircraft bore a great resemblance to the contemporary Hawker Hurricane, although it was at least 1,500 pounds (680 kg) heavier. On 11 August 1937, K8310 , which had recently received the name Defiant , conducted its maiden flight . This initial flight, piloted by Boulton Paul's chief test pilot Cecil Feather, occurred nearly

12408-480: The first production deliveries of the Defiant Mk II took place. The Defiant Mk II was soon paired with the newly developed AI to become more effective night fighter . While initial AI equipment was too heavy and bulky to be practical for equipping smaller aircraft, the improved AI Mk. IV radar was suitably sized for the Defiant; the first such equipped Defiants were introduced in late 1941. Later versions of

12549-600: The first to receive the Defiant Mk II, bringing them into operational use by mid-September. The principal users of the Mk II night fighter were 96, 151, and 262 Squadrons. As the radar-equipped Defiants began filtering through to operational squadrons, the Luftwaffe' s bombing campaign petered out as German forces had become heavily engaged on the Eastern Front as they embarked upon the Operation Barbarossa

12690-529: The form that was used at the time of acceptance. Variations may be encountered due to changes in format/typographical convention. Note 2: due to mergers and amalgamations within the UK aircraft industry sometimes the name of the manufacturer changed over time, e.g., English Electric later became part of the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), so the English Electric Lightning then became

12831-517: The guns to the pilot, with the guns firing along each side of the cockpit canopy; this was rarely done as the turret's minimum forward elevation was 19° and the pilot did not have a gunsight, possibly because the Defiant was outfitted to perform zero deflection shooting, as were several contemporaneous designs arising from Air Ministry specifications. The zero deflection gunnery technique was practised, among others, by British ace Albert Ball using Lewis guns on Foster mounts – which largely eliminated

12972-614: The initial production order in April 1937, follow-on orders had been issued for the type; in February 1938, an additional 202 Defiant Mk I aircraft were ordered; three months later, another 161 aircraft were ordered. At the same time Boulton Paul were engaged in production of the Blackburn Roc. In December 1939, yet another 150 aircraft were ordered, raising the overall total to 513. In 1940, this rose to 563 Defiant Mk Is on order, while

13113-653: The interceptor role until it received upgrades in the 1990s for ground attack. Both the fighter and the Phoenix missile were retired in 2006. The British Royal Air Force operated a supersonic day fighter, the English Electric Lightning , alongside the Gloster Javelin in the subsonic night/all-weather role . Efforts to replace the Javelin with a supersonic design under Operational Requirement F.155 came to naught. The UK operated its own, highly adapted version of

13254-478: The invasion of the Soviet Union. Defiant night fighters typically attacked enemy bombers from below, in a similar manoeuvre to the later German Schräge Musik method. Defiants attacked more often from slightly ahead or to one side, rather than from directly under the tail. The turret-fighter concept was not immediately discarded. Four-gun turrets were fitted to Beaufighter (Mk II, in 1941) and Mosquito (Bristol design turret, September 1941) night fighters to test

13395-413: The letter X, e., X.26/40. The letter G (General) signified a general-purpose aircraft, e.g., G.9/45, with an M (Multi-role) being applied to aircraft intended for more than one specific purpose, e.g., M.15/35. The letter C (Cargo) was applied to military transport aircraft, e.g., C.1/42, with the letter O (Observation) used for a naval reconnaissance aircraft, e.g., O.8/38 – the letter S (Spotter) used for

13536-552: The lower landing speeds required of carrier aircraft. The engine would be either a Bristol Hercules radial or the Merlin. Despite the P.85's higher estimated top speed, the Blackburn Roc was selected. With Blackburn already busy producing other projects, the detail design and production of the Roc was given to Boulton Paul. Ultimately, the only use of the Defiant within the FAA was its adoption of

13677-430: The more specialised role of naval spotting, i.e., observing and reporting back the fall of naval gunfire, e.g., S.38/34 – and R (Reconnaissance) for a reconnaissance type – often a flying boat , e.g., R.3/33. Special purpose aircraft would be signified by a letter Q, this being used to specify aircraft such as target-tugs, radio-controlled target drones , etc., e.g., Q.32/55. Sometimes the purpose for which an aircraft

13818-560: The naval Spotting role also being used for other purposes, e.g., S.15/33, resulting in the Blackburn Shark and Fairey Swordfish , the latter aircraft being primarily utilised as a torpedo bomber . Similarly S.24/37, which produced the Fairey Barracuda , again primarily designed for spotting, the dive bomber /torpedo bomber requirements being regarded as secondary when the specification was issued, but for which roles it

13959-550: The need for either complex gun sights or aiming-off by eye. An elevation of +19° combined with ballistic properties of .303 (7.7mm) Brownings and the Defiant's operational speed made 'line of sight' aiming – as practised by Luftwaffe pilots – a practical proposition. This technique, applied later in the war by Germany as Schräge Musik , seems to have been neither taught nor practised by the RAF. Despite being common knowledge among veteran First World War aircrew, featuring in Air Ministry requirements reflected in fighter designs such as

14100-668: The only widely used examples designed after the 1960s being the Panavia Tornado ADV , Mikoyan MiG-25 , Mikoyan MiG-31 , and the Shenyang J-8 . The first interceptor squadrons were formed during World War I to defend London against attacks by Zeppelins and later against fixed-wing long-range bombers . Early units generally used aircraft withdrawn from front-line service, notably the Sopwith Pup . They were told about their target's location before take-off from

14241-405: The other to Martin-Baker . On 11 December 1944, Defiant DR944 was delivered to Martin-Baker's facility at Denham ; sometime thereafter, a primitive ejector seat was fitted into the observers position for trial purposes. On 11 May 1945, Martin-Baker used DR944 to test their first ejection seat with dummy launches. Various trials using DR944 took place until May 1948. The other Defiant, AA292 ,

14382-491: The overall mission time, there were few ways to reduce this. During the Cold War in times of heightened tensions, quick reaction alert (QRA) aircraft were kept piloted, fully fueled and armed, with the engines running at idle on the runway ready to take off. The aircraft being kept topped up with fuel via hoses from underground fuel tanks. If a possible intruder was identified, the aircraft would be ready to take off as soon as

14523-423: The pilot managed to fly the aircraft back to its base and it was subsequently repaired. On 31 May, seven Defiants were lost in one day as Hurricanes and Spitfires failed to come to their aid in a battle with Bf 109s. It was concluded that underslung radio aerials on the Defiants had affected radio communication between the fighter squadrons Luftwaffe fighters suffered losses when "bouncing" flights of Defiants from

14664-567: The radar". By flying terrain masking low-altitude nap-of-the-earth flight profiles the effective range, and therefore reaction time, of ground-based radar was limited to at best the radar horizon . In the case of ground radar systems this can be countered by placing radar systems on mountain tops to extend the radar horizon, or through placing high performance radars in interceptors or in AWACS aircraft used to direct point defense interceptors. As capabilities continued to improve – especially through

14805-490: The range to reach the UK from Germany. In theory, turret-armed fighters would approach an enemy bomber from below or from the side and coordinate their fire. The separation of the tasks of flying the aircraft and firing the guns would allow the pilot to concentrate on putting the fighter into the best position for the gunner to engage the enemy. However, manually-traversed turrets were viewed as increasingly inadequate to effectively respond to ever-faster hostile aircraft, thus there

14946-444: The rear, apparently mistaking them for Hurricanes. The German pilots were unaware of the Defiant's rear-firing armament and encountered concentrated defensive fire. The Luftwaffe changed tactics, to outmanoeuvre the Defiant and attack from below or dead ahead, where the turret guns offered no defence. Defiant losses quickly mounted, particularly among the gunners, who were often unable to leave stricken aircraft. The additional weight of

15087-550: The resemblance to the Hawker fighter. The centre section employed a two- spar arrangement, and the wing itself had removable wingtips. The rear fuselage comprised two metal cones connected by a two-foot transitional section and a flat upper deck. The Defiant employed an all-metal stressed skin monocoque structure. The fuselage was built in sections that were subsequently bolted together, a manufacturing method previously used on other Boulton Paul-designed aircraft which they thought made

15228-404: The riveting process easier. It was a relatively clean design and made use of a simple, weight-saving structure. The primary mission of the Defiant was the destruction of incoming enemy bombers. The principal armament of the aircraft is its powered dorsal turret, equipped with four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns . The fuselage was fitted with aerodynamic fairings that helped mitigate

15369-404: The role merged with that of the heavy air superiority fighter . The interceptor mission is, by its nature, a difficult one. Consider the desire to protect a single target from attack by long-range bombers. The bombers have the advantage of being able to select the parameters of the mission – attack vector, speed and altitude. This results in an enormous area from which the attack can originate. In

15510-706: The second countermeasures system, "Mandrel" , a noise jammer which overwhelmed the signals from Freya . Individual Defiants were sent to orbit positions 50 miles (80 km) off the enemy coast. By using nine aircraft a 200-mile (320-km) gap could be made in the Germans' radar coverage. 515 Squadron flew its first mission using Mandrel on the night of 5/6 December 1942, continuing to use its Defiants for jamming operations until early 1943, when it began to receive twin-engined Bristol Beaufighters which had longer range and could carry more electronic equipment. The Defiant flew its last jamming mission on 17 July 1943, with one aircraft being lost out of four sent out that night. In

15651-436: The single-engine Bell P-39 Airacobra and the twin-engine Lockheed P-38 Lightning . Both aircraft were successful during World War II in standard fighter roles, not specifically assigned to point defense against bombers. From 1946 to 1980 the United States maintained a dedicated Aerospace Defense Command , consisting primarily of dedicated interceptors. Many post-war designs were of limited performance, including designs like

15792-585: The squadron was made on 22 December, of a single He 111. The Defiant night fighters had initially lacked aircraft interception radar, thus enemy aircraft were spotted and attacked via the eyes of the crew alone, aided by ground-based searchlights intended to illuminate attacking bombers. In the opening months of 1941, as the German night bombing campaign reached its peak, increasing numbers of Defiant night fighter-equipped squadrons became operational and commenced night patrols although, according to Bowyer, there were relatively few claims across many Defiant sorties. As

15933-594: The start as a day and night fighter—was transferred to night operations instead. The type had proven unsuited to the demands of the day fighter when set against the likes of the Bf 109E, and was less capable than other RAF aircraft such as the Hurricane and the Spitfire. By 31 August, over half the delivered Defiants had been shot down by Luftwaffe aircraft, a rate that was deemed to be unacceptable. The Defiant's kill ratio

16074-432: The target tug version. The first Defiant prototype had not been fitted with a turret at first and had an impressive top speed. In 1940, Boulton Paul removed the turret from the prototype as a demonstrator for a fixed-gun fighter based on Defiant components. The armament offered was either 12 .303 inches (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns (six per wing) or four 20 millimetres (0.79 in) Hispano cannon in place of eight of

16215-406: The there was a handle for manual rotation of the turret. The gunner's hatch was in the rear of the turret, which had to be rotated to the side for entry and exit. There was not enough room in the turret for the gunner to wear a seat-type or back pack parachute; the parachute was stowed alongside the gunner instead. This made escape from the aircraft so difficult that gunners were later provided with

16356-486: The time it takes for the bombers to cross the distance from first detection to being on their targets, the interceptor must be able to start, take off, climb to altitude, maneuver for attack and then attack the bomber. A dedicated interceptor aircraft sacrifices the capabilities of the air superiority fighter and multirole fighter (i.e., countering enemy fighter aircraft in air combat manoeuvring ), by tuning its performance for either fast climbs or high speeds. The result

16497-431: The top three (in decreasing order); Gloster and Bristol were rejected due to their turret designs. The Air Ministry wanted several designs investigated and the production of two prototypes of each. To get this large number of aircraft, HM Treasury had to approve the expenditure above that already allocated. Seven prototypes were ordered - one from Armstrong Whitworth, two each from Fairey, Hawker and Boulton Paul - but only

16638-434: The turret and the second crewman plus the aerodynamic drag gave the Defiant a lower performance than conventional single-seat fighter aircraft. 264 Squadron developed a counter against single-seat aircraft such as the Bf 109. By flying in an ever-descending Lufbery circle , Defiant crews sacrificed the advantage of height but eliminated the possibility of attack from underneath, while giving 360° of defensive fire. This tactic

16779-417: The two Defiant prototypes and one Hawker were completed. Boulton Paul, having been focused on turret-equipped aircraft for some time, made the submission to Specification F.9/35; with the company designation of P.82 . The proposed fighter was similar in size and appearance to the more conventional Hawker Hurricane , differing in weight primarily due to the use of turret-based armaments. The central feature of

16920-410: The type could be used to meet the growing overseas demand for target-towing aircraft, the Defiant was tropicalized, a large portion of which was the installation of large filters underneath the aircraft's nose. The P.85 was Boulton Paul's tender to Specification O.30/35 for the naval turret fighter. A version of the Defiant for Fleet Air Arm (FAA), it had leading edge slats and a deeper fuselage, for

17061-444: The type within the next two months. However, six months following their introduction to the role, the Defiant had proved to be a poor choice for the role, in part due to the aircraft already been worn out by their previous service, which limited the sortie rate; other issues included its high stalling speed and wide turning radius. By the end of 1942, the Defiant had been phased out of the air-sea role. A high-speed target tug variant,

17202-420: The widespread introduction of the jet engine and the adoption of high speed, low level flight profiles, the time available between detection and interception dropped. Most advanced point defence interceptors combined with long-range radars were struggling to keep the reaction time down enough to be effective. Fixed times, like the time needed for the pilot to climb into the cockpit, became an increasing portion of

17343-490: Was " Moonshine ", which re-transmitted the radar's signals to simulate large formations of aircraft. As each "Moonshine" transmitter only covered part of the Freya's frequency, a formation of eight Defiants was needed, giving the appearance of over 100 aircraft. As the system required formation flying, it could only be used in daylight, where it could draw German fighters onto British fighters leaving another area relatively free for

17484-472: Was a prototype jet fighter developed during the 1950s. It never flew and was cancelled in 1960. The Canadian subsonic Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck served in numbers through 1950s. Its supersonic replacement, the CF-105 Arrow ("Avro Arrow"), was controversially cancelled in 1959. The Swedish Saab 35 Draken was specifically designed for intercepting aircraft passing Swedish airspace at high altitudes in

17625-413: Was a single-engine interceptor aircraft . It used a monoplane structure which was coupled with main landing gear which retracted into a broad mainplane section. The pilot's cockpit and rear turret were faired into a streamlined upper fuselage section. Tankage for up to 104 imp gal (470 L) of fuel was housed within the wing centre section along with a large ventral radiator that completed

17766-514: Was almost exclusively subsequently used, the original spotting requirement having been made obsolete with the introduction of radar . In addition, some (mostly early) specifications appear to have no letter prefix at all, e.g., 1/21, the Vickers Virginia III . The names of the aircraft shown in the table are not necessarily those they carried when provided for evaluation as at this point an aircraft would usually be referred to as

17907-514: Was better than is commonly thought. In 20 days of frontline service in the Battle of Britain in July and August, 141 and 264 Squadron shot down 25 German aircraft for the loss of 17 Defiants. It was concluded that when operating against escorted bombers the Defiant should always be sent into battle with a top cover of Hurricanes or Spitfires so it could concentrate on its designed for role of shooting down

18048-514: Was considerable interest in using a power-augmented turret. The earlier Hawker Demon biplane had tested the concept with 59 of the fighters, which had been manufactured by Boulton Paul under a sub-contract, having been equipped with a hydraulically -powered rear turret, while a number of aircraft already built were also converted as such. Boulton Paul and its managing director John Dudley North had gained considerable experience with defensive turrets from producing several earlier aircraft, including

18189-603: Was delivered to R Malcolm Ltd at White Waltham Airfield on 15 April 1945 and the first airborne trial with dummies was held in the following October. The last operational use of Defiants was in India, where they were used as target tugs. The only surviving complete example of the type is a Defiant I, N1671 , on display as a night fighter at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford in Shropshire . It

18330-544: Was designated for deployment of interceptors. The aircraft of the Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO-S) differed from those of the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) in that they were by no means small or crudely simple, but huge and refined with large, sophisticated radars; they could not take off from grass, only concrete runways; they could not be disassembled and shipped back to a maintenance center in

18471-711: Was designed primarily as a stealth air superiority fighter. In the 1950s, the United States Navy led an unsuccessful F6D Missileer project. Later it launched the development of a large F-111B fleet air defense fighter, but this project was cancelled too. Finally, the role was assigned to the F-14 Tomcat , carrying AIM-54 Phoenix missiles. Like the USAF's F-15, the USN's F-14 was also designed primarily as an air superiority (fighter-to-fighter combat) and F-14s served

18612-522: Was for interceptors as the Commonwealth and American air forces pounded German targets night and day. As the bombing effort grew, notably in early 1944, the Luftwaffe introduced a rocket-powered design, the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet , in the very-short-range interceptor role. The engine allowed about 7 minutes of powered flight, but offered such tremendous performance that they could fly right by

18753-499: Was in turn downed along with another damaged. On 26 August 264 Squadron engaged a formation of 12 Dornier Do 17 bombers over north-eastern Kent but was attacked by a large formation of Bf 109s. Three aircraft were lost (two to ace Hpt. Gunther Lutzow of JG 3 ) but six Do 17s and a Bf 109 were shot down. Three of those victories were awarded to one Defiant, crewed by Flight Sergeants E. R. Thorn (pilot) and F. J. Barker (air gunner). They shot down two Do 17s but were then engaged by

18894-620: Was not completed. F.5/35 was issued to British manufacturers in June 1935. Seven responded to the tender: Armstrong Whitworth (twin-engines, based on the AW.34), Boulton and Paul (P.82), Bristol (Type 147), Fairey , Gloster , Hawker, and Supermarine (Type 305). Vickers did start on a design but did not provide it to the Air Ministry In September 1935 the Air Ministry picked Hawker, Boulton Paul and Armstrong Whitworth designs as

19035-532: Was one of four Defiants delivered to No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron at RAF Kirton in Lindsey , Lincolnshire on 17 September 1940 and was passed to No. 153 Squadron at the end of October 1941 and 285 Sqn in 1942. In 1954, it was identified for storage as a historical aircraft and passed to the RAF Museum at Hendon, London in 1971. The aircraft was moved on 20 May 2009 to Rochester Airport , where it

19176-455: Was received by Boulton Paul for the P.82; as this was prior to the first flight of the prototype, the aircraft had effectively been ordered 'off the drawing board'. The order for the rival Hotspur was cancelled in 1938. Completing its acceptance tests with the turret installed, the Defiant attained a top speed of 302 miles per hour (486 km/h) and subsequently was declared the victor of the turret fighter competition. Flight trials had revealed

19317-503: Was replaced by better performing night-fighters, the Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito . The Defiant continued to find use in gunnery training, target towing, electronic countermeasures and air-sea rescue . Among RAF pilots it had the nickname "Daffy". During the 1930s, the increasing speed of military aircraft posed a particular challenge to anti-aircraft defences. Advances in aircraft design achieved during

19458-702: Was restored by the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society (MAPS). It was returned to Hendon on 6 December 2012, and was then moved from Hendon to Royal Air Force Museum Cosford in November 2016 for display in the War in the Air hangar. Major parts of at least two other Defiants survive; N1766 and N3378 , both Mk Is. A full-scale replica Defiant was created on site at Boulton Paul in Wolverhampton by ex-Boulton Paul engineer Jack Holmes and team at

19599-420: Was to feature a clean design, concentrating its armament within a power-operated turret, and the accepted performance was to be only slightly beneath that of other emergent fighter designs of the period, along with a sufficient fuel capacity to allow it to perform standing patrols. In particular, the powered turret was to offer considerable flexibility, possessing both a 360-degree upper hemisphere field of fire and

19740-443: Was used by 264 Squadron, but when the Defiants of 141 Sqn were committed to combat a few months later during the Battle of Britain , it chose to ignore their advice. On 19 July, seven out of nine 141 Squadron Defiants sent to cover a convoy off Folkestone were shot down by Bf 109s of JG 51 , and the remaining two survived, one badly damaged, thanks only to the intervention of Hurricanes of 111 Sqn. The Hurricane pilots reported that

19881-405: Was vulnerable to fighters. By March 1940, 264 Squadron had two flights operational with Defiants and No. 141 Squadron received its first Defiant. When the Defiant was first introduced to the public, the RAF put out a disinformation campaign, stating that the Defiant had 21 guns: four in the turret, 14 in the wings and three cannon in the nose. On 12 May 1940, the first operational sortie occurred as

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