Interesting RAF bit-players 1939-1941 No.2: The Defiant

Originally Posted by Moggy

See now that's a far better argument than your 1st statement and well done for that. You've listed some great aircraft and in a way you've touched on the very heart of the problem the Defiant (and Hurricane for that matter) suffered...it had to compete with the Spitfire for engines and that's a battle it was never going to win. Personally I would love to see where it's development could of lead but that's something we will never know or find out. I'll let the Defiant's record speak for itself.

152 victories against 37 losses, a ratio of 4 to 1. I think you'll agree that for a fighter considered a failure by most...it's not too bad.

the problem of the Defiant wasn't the lack of engines, was the fact that it was a very heavy and cumbersome machine afflicted by a heavy turret (which unfortunately was a trap for many gunners), poorly armed and above all designed to respond to a completely useless Air Ministry specification, and there was no further development cos the RAF realised the plane made no sense..
And just for the record, Hurris, Mosquitoes and Beaufighters performed incredibly better in the night fighting roles.

[Moggy]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger

the problem of the Defiant wasn't the lack of engines, was the fact that it was a very heavy and cumbersome machine afflicted by a heavy turret (which unfortunately was a trap for many gunners), poorly armed and above all designed to respond to a completely useless Air Ministry specification, and there was no further development cos the RAF realised the plane made no sense..
And just for the record, Hurris, Mosquitoes and Beaufighters performed incredibly better in the night fighting roles.

I'm not sure the Hurricane had a better night fighting record than the Defiant but yes certainly the Mossies and Beaufighters did. I'm actually looking at 2 of the proposed designs to replace the Defiant, the P.92 (twin engine aircraft) and P.96 (imagine a Typhoon with the type A turret in the back and you'll get the idea) 4 different designs fitted with either the Sabre or Centaurus engines and either 4 or 6 cannon.