In its short time aboard Royal Navy carriers, the Attacker proved itself solid if unspectacular. There was the glaring issue of its "nose-up" attitude which played poorly in terms of pilot vision - a failing of World War 2-era fighter aircraft. This limited vision during deck-running actions as well as the all-critical action of landing. The jet-powered nature of the aircraft, coupled with the nose-up attitude, also excluded it from being operated from soft-ground airfields as a land-based fighter and its overall performance was generally lacking when compared to the fastest prop-driven fighters of the late-war era. This led to the Royal Navy abandoning the Attacker as its frontline offering as soon as 1954.
The Attacker entered service as the Attacker F.1 and this was based in the Type 398 prototype. Fifty were built to the standard with the final eleven being completed as fighter-bombers, handed the designation of "FB.1" as a result. These particular aircraft were given provision for aerial rockets and conventional drop bombs at hard points situated under each wing. The FB.1's upgraded form arrived in the "Attack FB.2" which now moved on to the Rolls-Royce Nene 102 series turbojet engine offering slightly better performance - 84 were built to this standard.
As completed, the Attacker F.1 held a crew of one and its structure was given a running length of 37.5 feet, a wingspan of 36.10 feet, and a height of 9.10 feet. Empty weight reached 8,435lb against an MTOW of 12,215. Power was supplied by the single Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine offering 5,000lb of thrust. This allowed for a maximum speed of 590 miles-per-hour with a range out to 590 miles, a service ceiling up to 45,000 feet, and a rate-of-climb nearing 6,350 feet-per-minute. Standard armament was 4 x 20mm Hispano No.3 Mark V automatic cannons fitted in pairs at the leading edges of each wing mainplane.
The final Attacker entry became the thirty-six "Type 538" models built for, and sold to, the Pakistan Air Force in 1953. These were powered by the "Nene 4" turbojet engine and operated solely as land-based fighter-bombers from prepared airfields.
Eventually, a swept-wing form of the Attacker appeared, this as the "Type 510", and this model was ultimately evolved to become the Supermarine "Swift" jet-powered fighter for the RAF. This aircraft is detailed elsewhere on this site.
For the British, the Attacker ultimately stocked the inventories of no more than four FAA squadrons (of which one was set up as a dedicated training force). Five Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve squadrons then equipped with the type . In Pakistan, the Attacker operated with No.11 "Arrows" squadron for its time in the air.
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