Fairey Battle

E30968

The Fairey Battle was a British single-engine light bomber used by the Royal Air Force in the early years of World War II, noted for its heavy losses in combat due to inadequate performance against modern fighters.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf World War II aircraft
light bomber
military aircraft
single‑engine aircraft
aircraftCategory single‑engine bomber
armament forward‑firing 0.303 in Browning machine gun
rear 0.303 in Vickers K machine gun
bombLoad up to 1,000 lb of bombs
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom
crew 3
crewPositions observer
pilot
wireless operator‑air gunner
designedFor daylight precision bombing
designEra interwar period
engineConfiguration liquid‑cooled V‑12 piston engine
engineType Rolls‑Royce Merlin
enteredService 1937
firstFlightDate 1936-03-10
introduced 1937
landingGear retractable tailwheel landing gear
manufacturer Fairey Aviation Company
maxSpeed around 257 mph at altitude
notableFor heavy losses in combat
inadequate performance against modern fighters
numberOfEngines 1
operator No. 103 Squadron RAF
No. 12 Squadron RAF
No. 226 Squadron RAF
primaryUser Royal Air Force
retired 1949
role light bomber
status retired from military service
successor Bristol Beaufighter (in some roles)
Bristol Blenheim
Douglas Boston
survivors several preserved in museums
usedAs ground attack aircraft
target tug
trainer aircraft
usedBy Belgian Air Force
Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
South African Air Force
usedInConflict Second World War
usedInTheatre Battle of France
Western Front (World War II)
wingConfiguration low‑wing monoplane

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Rolls-Royce Merlin
notableAircraftPowered

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