Boulton Paul Defiant
ManufacturerBoulton Paul Aircraft
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 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 unescorted 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, allowing them to escort bombers to London, although with fuel for only ten minutes of flying time there. The Defiant had been designed only to destroy unescorted bombers by means of beam or ventral attacks, and had no forward-firing armament; it proved to be very vulnerable to frontal attacks by fighters in daylight combat. It...
In combat, the Defiant was found to be effective at destroying unescorted 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, allowing them to escort bombers to London, although with fuel for only ten minutes of flying time there. The Defiant had been designed only to destroy unescorted bombers by means of beam or ventral attacks, and had no forward-firing armament; it proved to be very vulnerable to frontal attacks by fighters in daylight combat. It...
