Supermarine Attacker
| Supermarine Attacker
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Image
caption
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| Description
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| Role |
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| Crew |
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| First Flight |
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| Entered Service |
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| Manufacturer |
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| Dimensions
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| Length | ft in | m
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| Wingspan | ft in | m
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| Height | ft in | m
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| Wing Area | ft² | m²
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| Weights
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| Empty | lb | kg
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| Loaded | lb | kg
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| Maximum Takeoff | lb | kg
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| Capacity |
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| Powerplant
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| Engines |
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| Thrust | lb | kN
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| Performance
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| Maximum Speed | mph | km/h
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| Combat Range | miles | km
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| Ferry Range | miles | km
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| Service Ceiling | ft | m
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| Rate of Climb | ft/min | m/min
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| Wing Loading | lb/ft² | kg/m²
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| Thrust/Weight |
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| Avionics
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| Avionics |
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| Armament
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| Guns |
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| Bombs |
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| Missiles |
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| Rockets |
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| Other |
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The Supermarine Attacker was a single-seat jet fighter of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), built by the Supermarine company, and was the first jet fighter of the FAA.
The Attacker developed from a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jet project, the E10//44. The project was intended to be an interim fighter for the RAF while another aircraft, being made by Gloster, was developed. Both were rejected by the RAF, with theGloster Meteor and Vampire aircraft becoming the RAF's first two operational jet types. In response, Supermarine offered a navalised version of the project to the Admiralty. The design of the Attacker used the straight-wings of the Supermarine Spiteful, a piston-engined fighter intended to replace the legendary Supermarine Spitfire, but which never did; with just under twenty aircraft eventually being built. The Attacker suffered from a number of deficiencies which made it a less than successful aircraft. Just one such deficiency was that the Attacker had a tail-wheel undercarriage, rather than a nose-wheel undercarriage, thus making the Attacker difficult to land on aircraft carriers.
The first navalised prototype first flew in June 1947, three years after the RAF's Gloster Meteor had made its first flight. The first production aircraft to take to the skies was the F.1 in 1950, entering service with the FAA the following year; its first squadron being No. 800 NAS. The F.1s armamment consisted of four Hispano 20mm cannons. It was powered by a single Rolls-Rolls Nene Mk. 101 turbojet engine. The Attacker had a speed of 590mph and a range of just under 1200 miles.
Two more variants of the Supermarine Attacker were built for the FAA. The FB.1 was a fighter-bomber which only differed from the F.1 in that a ground-attack role was intrdocued to it. The third, and last, variant of the Attacker was the FB.2 which introduced a new Rolls-Royce Nene engine and modifications to its structure. The Supermarine Attacker now had eight pylons capable of being armed with two 1000lb bombs and eight unguided rockets. Over 100 Attackers would eventually be built for the Fleet Air Arm.
The Attacker had a brief career with the Fleet Air Arm, not seeing any action during her time with the FAA and being taken out of first-line service in 1954. It remained in service with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve RNVR) service for a little while longer; it was taken out of service in 1956. The Attacker was replaced by the more capable Hawker Sea Hawk and de Havilland Sea Venom jets in the Fleet Air Arm. The Attacker was only exported to one country, Pakistan. Between 1952-53, just over thirty Attackers were sold to the Pakistani Air Force (PAF). The aircraft was eventually replaced in the PAF by the 1960s.
Squadrons that operated the Supermarine Attacker
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- Fleet Air Arm
- No. 767 NAS
- No. 800 NAS
- N0. 803 NAS
