The Supermarine Scimitar was a single seat naval strike aircraft designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine.
Operated exclusively by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, it was the final aircraft to be entirely designed and manufactured by Supermarine.
The Scimitar was developed out of an earlier effort, internally designated Type 505, an undercarriage-less fighter aircraft intended to be flown from rubber decks.
Much of the aircraft’s features, including its unorthodox V-tail or butterfly tail and its thin straight wing, were shared with this ancestor, however, the Admiralty reconsidered their requirements and specified a conventional undercarriage be used.
Accordingly, Supermarine produced the closely-related Type 508, equipped with an enlarged wing and retractable undercarriage.
On 31 August 1951, the Type 508 performed its maiden flight, it was closely followed by the redesigned Type 529 and Type 544, the latter serving as a direct prototype for the production model, making its first flight in January 1956.
During 1957, the first production aircraft were delivered, enabling the Scimitar to enter service with the Royal Navy during the following year.
The aircraft was operated by the Royal Navy as a low level strike aircraft, which included potentially being armed with nuclear weapons, having been superseded as a fighter even prior to its introduction by other aircraft such as the de Havilland Sea Venom and the de Havilland Sea Vixen.
It experienced a relatively high attrition rate due to a spate of accidents.
Towards its latter years of operation, the type was frequently used as an aerial refuelling tanker.
During 1969, the Scimitar was permanently withdrawn, having been replaced in service by newer and more capable aircraft such as the Blackburn Buccaneer.
Variants
Supermarine 508 research aircraft
Predecessors
Type 508
Straight-wing research aircraft.
Type 529
Straight-wing research aircraft.
Type 525
Swept-wing research aircraft.
Prototypes
Type 544
Prototype for the Scimitar F.1,
3 built by Vickers-Armstrong Experimental Department at Hursley Park
Production model
Scimitar F.1
Single seat multirole fighter aircraft,
76 built by Vickers-Armstrong at South Marsden
The original order was for 100 aircraft in 1952, this was later reduced to 76.
Specifications
Crew
1
Length
55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)
Wingspan
37 ft 2 in (11.33 m)
Height
17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)
Wing area
485 sq ft (45.1 m2)
Empty weight
23,962 lb (10,869 kg)
Gross weight
34,200 lb (15,513 kg)
Powerplant
2 × Rolls-Royce Avon 202 turbojet engines,
11,250 lbf (50.0 kN) thrust each
Performance
Maximum speed
640 kn (740 mph, 1,190 km/h) at sea level
Range
1,237 nmi (1,424 mi, 2,291 km)
Service ceiling
46,000 ft (14,000 m)
Rate of climb
6,751 ft/min (34.30 m/s)
Time to altitude
45,000 ft (14,000 m) in 6 minutes 39 seconds
Wing loading
70.515 lb/sq ft (344.28 kg/m2)
(Gross weight)
Armament
Guns
Four × 30 mm Aden Cannon with 160 rounds per gun
Hardpoints
4 with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets
Up to 16 two or three inch (51 or 76 mm) unguided rockets (4 per pylon)
