Night fighter
A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post-
During the Second World War, night fighters were either purpose-built night fighter designs, or more commonly, heavy fighters or light bombers adapted for the mission, often employing radar or other systems for providing some sort of detection capability in low visibility. Many night fighters of the conflict also included instrument landing systems for landing at night, as turning on the runway lights made runways into an easy target for opposing intruders. Some experiments tested the use of day fighters on night missions, but these tended to work only under very favourable circumstances and were not widely successful. The war would see the first aircraft ever that was explicitly designed from the outset to function as a night fighter, the Northrop P-61 Black Widow.
History
Early examples
At the start of the
Things changed on 22 September and 8 October 1914, when the Royal Naval Air Service bombed the production line and hangars of the Zeppelin facilities in Cologne and Düsseldorf.[3] Although defences had been set up, all of them proved woefully inadequate. As early as 1915,[N 1] a number of B.E.2c aircraft (the infamous "Fokker Fodder") were modified into the first night fighters. After lack of success while using darts and small incendiary bombs to attack Zeppelins from above, ultimately a Lewis gun loaded with novel incendiary ammunition, was mounted at an angle of 45° to fire upwards, to attack the enemy from below. This technique proved to be very effective.[5]
After over a year of night Zeppelin raids, on the night of 2–3 September 1916, a BE2c flown by
Because of airships' limitations, the Luftstreitkräfte began to introduce long-range heavy bombers, starting with the Gotha G.IV aircraft that gradually took over the offensive. While their early daylight raids in May 1917 were able to easily evade the weak defenses of London, the strengthening of the home defence fighter force led to the Germans switching to night raids from 3 September 1917.[7] To counter night attacks, Sopwith Camel day fighters were deployed in the night fighter role. The Camels' Vickers guns were replaced by Lewis guns mounted over the wings, as the flash from the Vickers tended to dazzle the pilot when they were fired, and synchronised guns were considered unsafe for firing incendiary ammunition. Further modification led to the cockpit being moved rearwards. The modified aircraft were nicknamed the "Sopwith Comic".[9] To provide suitable equipment for Home Defence squadrons in the north of the UK, Avro 504K trainers were converted to night fighters by removing the front cockpit and mounting a Lewis gun on the top wing.[10]
Interwar period
With little money to spend on development, especially during the Great Depression, night-fighting techniques changed little until just prior to World War II.
In the meantime, aircraft performance had improved tremendously; compared to their First World War counterparts, modern
The Spanish Republican Air Force used some Polikarpov I-15s as night fighters. Pilot José Falcó had equipped his fighter with a radio receiver for land-based guidance for interception. One of the I-15s configured for night operations, fitted with tracer and explosive .30 rounds, scored a daylight double victory against Bf 109s in the closing stages of the war.[12]
Nevertheless, some new technologies appeared to offer potential ways to improve night-fighting capability. During the 1930s, considerable development of infrared detectors occurred among all of the major forces, but in practice, these proved almost unusable. The only such system to see any sort of widespread operational use was the Spanner Anlage system used on the Dornier Do 17Z night fighters of the Luftwaffe. These were often also fitted with a large IR searchlight to improve the amount of light being returned.[13]
Immediately prior to the opening of the war, radar was introduced operationally for the first time. Initially, these systems were unwieldy, and development of IR systems continued. Realizing that radar was a far more practical solution to the problem, Robert Watson-Watt handed the task of developing a radar suitable for aircraft use to 'Taffy' Bowen in the mid-1930s. In September 1937, he gave a working demonstration of the concept when a test aircraft was able to detect three Home Fleet capital ships in the North Sea in bad weather.[14]
The promising implications of the test were not lost on planners, who reorganised radar efforts and gave them increased priority. This led to efforts to develop an operational unit for airborne interception (AI). The size of these early AI radars required a large aircraft to lift them, and their complex controls required a multiperson crew to operate them. This naturally led to the use of light bombers as the preferred platform for airborne radars, and in May 1939, the first experimental flight took place, on a Fairey Battle.[15]
Second World War
The war opened on 1 September 1939, and by this time, the RAF were well advanced with plans to build a radar – then called 'RDF' in Britain – equipped night-fighter fleet. The Airborne Interception Mk. II radar (AI Mk. II) was being fitted experimentally to a small number of Bristol Blenheim aircraft, having been selected for this role as its fuselage was sufficiently roomy to accommodate the additional crew member and radar apparatus;[16] the first prototype system went into service in November 1939, long before the opening of major British operations. These early systems had significant practical problems, and while work was underway to correct these flaws, by the time the Blitz opened in August 1940, the night fighter fleet was still in its infancy.
Through this period, the RAF experimented with many other aircraft and interception methods in an effort to get a working night fighter force. One attempt to make up for the small number of working radars was to fit an AI to a Douglas Havoc bomber which also carried a searchlight in its nose. These Turbinlite aircraft were intended to find the targets and illuminate them with the searchlight, allowing Hurricanes adapted for night flying to shoot them down visually.[17][18] This proved almost impossible to arrange in practice, and the Cat Eye fighters had little luck during the closing months of 1940. The Turbinlite squadrons were disbanded in early 1943.[19]
By early 1941, the first examples of a production-quality radar, AI Mk. IV, were beginning to arrive. This coincided with the arrival of the
As the German effort wound down, the RAF's own bombing campaign was growing. The Mosquitos had little to do over the UK, so a number of squadrons were formed within No. 100 Group RAF and fitted with special systems, such as Perfectos and Serrate, for homing-in on German night fighters.[23] The British also experimented with mounting pilot-operated AI Mark 6 radar sets in single-seat fighters, and the Hurricane II C(NF), a dozen of which were produced in 1942, became the first radar-equipped, single-seat night fighter in the world. It served with 245 and 247 Squadrons briefly and unsuccessfully before being sent to India to 176 Squadron, with which it served until the end of 1943.[24][25] A similarly radar-equipped Hawker Typhoon was also developed, but no production followed.[26]
German airborne interception radar efforts at this point were about two years behind the British. Unlike in Britain, where the major targets lay only a few minutes' flight time from the coast, targets in Germany after the occupation of France in 1940 were
At the urging of
In 1942, the Germans first started deploying the initial B/C low
The
The effective Schräge Musik [N 4] offensive armament fitment was the German name given to installations of upward-firing autocannon mounted in large, twin-engined night fighters by the Luftwaffe and both the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and Imperial Japanese Army Air Service during World War II, with the first victories for the Luftwaffe and IJNAS each occurring in May 1943. This innovation allowed the night fighters to approach and attack bombers from below, where they were outside the bomber crew's field of view. Few bombers of that era carried defensive guns in the ventral position. An attack by a Schräge Musik-equipped fighter was typically a complete surprise to the bomber crew, who would only realise that a fighter was close by when they came under fire. Particularly in the initial stage of operational use until early 1944, the sudden fire from below was often attributed to ground fire rather than a fighter.[32]
Rather than nighttime raids, the
The
Postwar
Even while the war raged, the
Other forces did not have the pressing need to move to the jet engine; Britain and the US were facing enemies with aircraft of even lower performance than their existing night fighters.[citation needed] However, the need for new designs was evident, and some low-level work started in the closing stages of the war, including the US contract for the Northrop F-89 Scorpion.[40] When the Soviet plans to build an atomic bomb became known in the west in 1948, this project was still long from being ready to produce even a prototype, and in March 1949, they started development of both the North American F-86D Sabre and Lockheed F-94 Starfire as stop-gap measures.[41][42] All of these fighters entered service during the early 1950s.
In the Korean War, after the Starfire proved to be ineffective against the latest Soviet-supplied aircraft, Marine Corps Douglas F3D Skyknights shot down six aircraft, including five Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s without loss, as the MiG-15s lacked radar to shoot down individual fighters, though they were effective against bomber formations at night.[43]
During the immediate postwar era, the RAF launched studies into new fighter designs, but gave these projects relatively low priority.[44] By the time of the Soviet bomb test, the night-fighter design was still strictly a paper project, and the existing Mosquito fleet was generally unable to successfully intercept the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber it was expected to face. This led to rushed programs to introduce new, interim night-fighter designs; these efforts led to several night-fighter versions of ubiquitous Gloster Meteor to replace the Mosquitos during the early 1950s.[45] A similar conversion of the de Havilland Vampire was also introduced; this was originally developed by the company as a private venture and initially ordered by Egypt, instead the RAF took over the order to serve an interim measure between the retirement of the Mosquito night fighter and the Meteor night fighter's introduction.[46] These types were also widely exported; Meteor night fighters were acquired by France, Syria, Egypt and Israel amongst others.[47]
Both the Meteor and Vampire conversions were rapidly followed by a more capable night fighter in the form of the de Havilland Venom, the first model of which having been introduced during 1953.[48] More advanced night fighter models of the Venom would follow,[49] as well as of the navalised de Havilland Sea Venom, which served with the Royal Navy along with other operators.[50] An advanced night-fighter design was eventually introduced to RAF service in 1956 in the form of the Gloster Javelin, a delta wing aircraft capable of performing rapid ascents and attaining an altitude of 45,000 feet.[51] However, due to rapid advances in aircraft capabilities, the Javelin quickly became considered to be outdated and the type was retired during 1968.[52] In Canada, Avro Canada developed its own night fighter, the CF-100 Canuck, which entered service with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during 1952.[53]
Into the 1960s, night fighters still existed as a separate class of aircraft. However, as they continued to grow in capability, radar-equipped
During this transition period, the
The reduced size and costs of
First World War
- Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 Night fighter
- Sopwith Camel "Comic" Night fighter
- Sopwith 1½ Strutter Night fighter
- Supermarine Nighthawk
Second World War
Germany
- Arado Ar 68E-1
- Dornier Do 217J/N
- Focke-Wulf Ta 154
- Heinkel He 219
- Junkers Ju 88C/G
- Messerschmitt Bf 110D/F-4/G-4
- Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a/U2, B-1a/U1
- Focke-Wulf Fw 189A-1
- Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5/R11
Italy
- Fiat CR.42CN Falco
- CANT Z.1018/CN "Leone"
- Caproni-Vizzola F-5/CN
- Reggiane Re.2001CN Serie I, II, III "Falco"
Japan
- Aichi S1A Denko
- Kawasaki Ki-45 KAIc
- Mitsubishi Ki-46-III KAI
- Mitsubishi Ki-109
- Nakajima C6N1-S
- Nakajima J1N1-S
- Yokosuka D4Y2-S
- Yokosuka P1Y1-S
Hungary/Romania
- FIAT CR.42"Falco"
- MÁVAG Héja
- Messerschmitt Bf 109F
- Messerschmitt Bf 110G-4d
- Messerschmitt Me 210Ca-1/N
Soviet Union
United Kingdom
- Douglas Havoc (US-built)
- Douglas Havoc (Turbinlite) (US-built)
- Boulton Paul Defiant Mk II
- Bristol Beaufighter
- Bristol Blenheim Mk IF
- de Havilland Mosquito NF series
- Fairey Firefly NF Mk 5
- Supermarine Spitfire
United States
- Douglas P-70
- Bristol Beaufighter (British supplied)
- Grumman F6F-3E/F6F-3N/F6F-5N Hellcat
- Lockheed P-38M "Night Lightning"
- Northrop P-61 Black Widow
- Vought F4U-2/F4U-4E/F4U-4N Corsair
France
Post-war
Canada
- Avro Canada CF-100
United Kingdom
- de Havilland Mosquito NF 36/38
- de Havilland Sea Hornet NF 21
- de Havilland Vampire NF 10/54
- de Havilland Venom NF 2/2A/3/51/54
- Gloster/Armstrong-Whitworth Meteor NF 11/12/14
- Gloster Javelin
United States
- Douglas F3D Skyknight
- Grumman F7F-1N/2N Tigercat
- Lockheed F-94 Starfire
- McDonnell F2H-2N/F2H-4 Banshee
- McDonnell F-101 Voodoo
- North American F-82F/G/H Twin Mustang
- North American F-86D/K/L Sabre
- Northrop F-89 Scorpion
- Vought F4U-5N/F4U-5NL Corsair/Goodyear FG-1E Corsair
See also
References
Notes
- ^ "October 13th 1915... [Second Lieutenant John Slessor] lifted his BE2c into the blackness to search for the intruder."[4]
- ^ By 1918, only four Zeppelin raids against London were mounted.[7]
- ^ The Mosquito increased German night-fighter losses to such an extent the Germans were said to have awarded two victories for shooting one down.[21]
- ^ Schräge Musik was derived from the German colloquialism for "Jazz Music" (the German word "schräg" literally means "slanted" or "oblique"; it also has a secondary meaning of "weird", "strange", "off-key", or "abnormal" as in the English "queer")
- ^ The Hellcat proved to be the best single-engined night fighter deployed in World War II.[38]
Citations
- ^ Winchester 2006, p. 184.
- ^ Cooper, Ralph, Jean-Claude Cailliez and Gian Picco. "Alfred Comte 1895–1965." earlyaviators.com, 19 November 2005. Retrieved: 15 April 2011.
- ^ Madison, Rodney. "Air Warfare, Strategic Bombing". The Encyclopedia of World War I: A Political, Social and Military History, Volume 1, Spencer C. Tucker, ed. (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005), pp. 45–46.
- ^ Evans 1996, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Gunston 1976, p. 27.
- ^ Knell 2003, pp. 109–111.
- ^ a b Gray and Thetford 1962, p. 130.
- ^ Unikoski, Ari. "The War in the Air: Bombers: Germany, Zeppelins." firstworldwar.com, 22 August 2009. Retrieved: 13 April 2011.
- ^ Bruce 1968, p. 151.
- ^ Bruce 1965, pp. 35–36.
- ^ Robinson 1988, p. 24.
- ^ Lázaro, Carlos. "Los chatos noctumos" (in Spanish) Archived 28 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine Adar. Retrieved: 4 August 2013.
- ^ Henini and Razeghi 2002, p. 128.
- ^ Robinson 1988, p. 34.
- ^ Robinson 1988, p. 28.
- ^ Moyes 1966, p. 6.
- ^ Cotton 1969, pp. 205–211.
- ^ Cotton, Frederick Sidney and William Helmore. "An improved method and means for intercepting night flying hostile aircraft." GB Patent 574970, 29 January 1946.
- ^ White, E. G. "1459 Flight and 538 Squadron." Archived 2011-07-09 at the Wayback Machine Nightfighter navigator. Retrieved: 1 August 2011.
- ^ Moyes 1966, p. 5.
- ^ a b c Hastings 1979, p. 240.
- ^ Thirsk 2006, pp. 124–127.
- ^ Rawnsley and Wright 1998, p. 151.
- ^ Marchant 1996 [page needed]
- ^ Thomas 1996 [page needed]
- ^ Sortehaug 1998, pp. 23, 30.
- ^ Robinson 1988, p. 68.
- ^ Jones 1978, pp. Preface, p. 500.
- ^ Price 2006, p. 67.
- ^ Scutts and Weal 1998, pp. 46–47.
- ^ Ledwoch and Skupiewski 1994 [page needed]
- ^ Wilson 2008, p. 3.
- ^ Currie 1999, p. 11.
- ^ Heaton and Lewis 2008 [page needed]
- ^ Pape 1992, p. 208.
- ^ a b Odell, William C. (Winter 1989). "The Development of Night Fighters in World War II". Naval History. 3 (1). United States Naval Institute: 33–35.
- ^ a b Gunston 1976, pp. 112, 183–184.
- ^ Gunston 1976, p. 184.
- ISBN 9780887402340.
- ^ Blazer and Dorio 1993, pp. 1–3.
- ^ "William F. Barns Archives". This Day in Aviation. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
- ^ Coniglio, Serigio. "F-94 Starfire (Monopama Special File)." Aviation and Marine International, Issue 34, June 1976.
- ISBN 1-85780-105-9.[page needed]
- ^ Buttler 2004, p. 193.
- Aeroplane MonthlyApril 1995, p. 6–7.
- ^ Jackson 1987, p. 484.
- ^ Williams Aeroplane Monthly June 1995, p. 12.
- ^ Birtles 1999, p. 72.
- ^ Birtles 1999, pp. 75–76.
- ^ Gunston 1981, p. 56.
- ^ Allward 1983, p. 6.
- ^ Wixley Aircraft Illustrated September 1984, p. 422.
- ^ Dow 1997, p. 72.
- ISBN 9781459717749– via Google Books.
- ^ Campagna 1998, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Winchester 2006, p. 55.
- ISBN 9780160911323.
- ^ Pilot's Notes, Lightning F Mk.1 and F Mk.1A. Warton Aerodrome, UK: English Electric Technical Services, February 1962.
- ^ Beamont (1985), p. 51-52.
- ^ "Phantom 'Phirsts'", Phabulous 40th, Boeing, archived from the original on 29 June 2011, retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ Dorr and Bishop 1996, pp. 48–49.
- ^ Knaack 1974, p. 274.
- ^ Gunston 1978, pp. 8, 10–15.
- ^ Spick 2000, pp. 72–74, 112.
- ^ Gunston and Spick 1983, p. 112.
- ^ Neufeld 2007, p. 49.
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Further reading
- Shulenberger, Eric (2005). Deny Them the Night Sky: A History of the 548th Night Fighter Squadron. E. Shulenberger. ISBN 978-0-9767355-0-2.