Swift F.1

Swift F.1

Hornet Mk.III

Swift F.7

Swift F.1

Hornet Mk.III

Swift F.7

Britain

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.3	8.3	8.3

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Research:105 000

Purchase:300 000

Show in game

This page is about the British jet fighter Swift F.1. For the other version, see Swift F.7.

Description

The Swift F.1 is a rank V British jet fighter with a battle rating of 8.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 3,048 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	982	980	12192	26.7	27.4	19.8	17.3	850
Upgraded	989	985		24.0	25.0	37.7	28

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
X	✓	✓	X	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	435	N/A	1,060	465	~9	~5

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 850	< 600	< 600	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Empty mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
Rolls-Royce Avon Mk.105		1	5,920 kg		268 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		8m fuel	20m fuel	29m fuel
1,000 kg	Axial-flow turbojet		6,394 kg	7,092 kg	7,616 kg	9,530 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB / SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (100%)
Condition	100%	WEP	8m fuel	20m fuel	29m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	3,107 kgf	N/A	0.49	0.44	0.41	0.33
Optimal	3,107 kgf (0 km/h)	N/A	0.49	0.44	0.41	0.33

Survivability and armour

• 50 mm thick bulletproof glass in cockpit windshield.
• 12.7 mm steel plate behind pilot.
• Most of the critical components positioned inside the fuselage (Pilot, engine and fuel tanks)

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Swift F.1 is armed with:

• 2 x 30 mm ADEN cannon, nose-mounted (200 RPG = 400 total)

Suspended armament

The Swift F.1 can be outfitted with the following ordenance:

• Without load
• 2 x G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)
• 2 x G.P. 1,000 lb Mk.I bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 2 x M.C. 1,000 lb Mk.I bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 16 x RP-3 rockets

Usage in battles

The Swift is an 8.3 British subsonic jet fighter. The aircraft is considered by some users to be a "Mini Hunter" as the Swift shares a lot of strengths and weaknesses with the 9.0 beast.

This jet's strengths consist of good acceleration, climb rate and top speed, which if used properly can make it a brutal 'Boom and Zoom' aircraft, as even a short burst from the dual ADEN 30mm revolver cannons will shred anything unfortunate enough to be in the way. The jet also has good energy retention, allowing it to make a 'swift' getaway if the pilot doesn't manage to kill their target, as even in a gentle climb it does not bleed speed as fast as other jets of its tier.

The main weakness of the jet is the fact that it is not very manoeuvrable, meaning that if caught in a sticky situation, the Swift is unlikely to be able to out-dogfight its opponent unless the pilot is very experienced. Try to escape a dogfight before it begins, but if you are forced to engage, avoid throwing the jet into any sort of tight horizontal manoeuvres as there are very few aircraft the swift will out-turn and you will end up losing any energy you may have had, becoming a sitting duck for whoever decides to claim the kill. Instead, when manoeuvring utilise oblique and vertical planes as you will have much more control over your energy, as well as making it easier to search for an escape route. If you manage to escape a dogfight, extend out using the Swift's acceleration and get some distance, then you can decide whether or not to reengage. Also, be careful in dives. The Swift is a fast plane and as such, in a full-on boom dive from the heavens, you are likely to be going at around 700mph/1126kph IAS, which is great for taking out unaware enemies who haven't seen you. At this point, however, the Swift is at its least manoeuvrable, at this speed turning and pulling up takes a very long time, and many new Swift pilots will find themselves embedded in the nearest hillside after a dive, take the time to learn the limits of the plane and know when to pull up. The Swift also has no actual airbrake, instead the jet is equipped with the strongest takeoff flaps in the game, which still manage to hold together at the top speed of the plane, they do a great job of ditching unwanted speed, even in a steep dive, so use them if you feel you are coming in too fast.

Another minor weakness of the Swift is the fact that the two ADENs fire very quickly, expending all 400 rounds in about 10 seconds, so in an extended battle you may find yourself clean out of bullets, at which point you'll either escape and rearm, or become a sitting duck for the nearest fully loaded transonic fighter who sees you.

To summarise, use the Swift as a 'Boom and Zoomer,' avoid horizontal dogfights, watch your speed in dives, and make sure to keep an eye on your ammo count, do all this and you'll be sure to quickly get many kills under your belt.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Great acceleration and high top speed
• Decent energy retention, but not the best at it (especially against MiG-15/17)
• Good climb rate
• Fast firing 30 mm ADEN cannons
• Good roll rate

Cons:

• Low manoeuvrability at any speed compared to other fighters in its rating
• Compression at high speed (>900kph IAS)

History

In the years following the end of WW2, Great Britain focused their efforts on rebuilding their nation from the devastation caused by the war as the British government didn’t consider a new war possible in the following ten years. Under these circumstances, developing new military technology wasn’t considered a priority in most cases.

As a result, Great Britain found itself lagging behind in military aviation at the start of the 1950s by the outbreak of the Korean War. This prompted the RAF to hastily look for a new fighter aircraft to put into service, even if it meant taking into consideration an interim design.

One of the designs that sparked the RAF’s interest was a new swept-wing aircraft developed by the Supermarine company - the Type 510. Being in essence just a modified Supermarine Attacker, development of this design continued, eventually maturing into the Type 541.

Soon, the Type 541 received the highest development priority and was hastily rushed through testing and into production as the Supermarine Swift. In fact, production was so rushed that it began before necessary design changes could even be applied from the results of the test flights conducted with the Type 541 prototypes.

Nonetheless, the Supermarine Swift F.1 entered service with the RAF in February 1954, followed shortly afterwards by the F.2 variant. However, many of the aircraft’s teething problems weren’t resolved as a result of being rushed into production. This resulted in a number of accidents happening early on involving the Swift, leading to the aircraft being grounded for a time.

Newer modifications were developed, which addressed most of the known issues. However, it was a case of too little too late for the Swift, as it quickly became replaced by the Hawker Hunter. In the end, just under 200 Supermarine Swifts were produced out of the close to 500 planned aircraft. The Swift was phased out of active service relatively quickly after its introduction, with the last fighter models being withdrawn by the RAF in the mid to late 1950s.

- From Devblog

Media

Images

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See also

Related development

• Supermarine Swift F.7
• Supermarine Attacker

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• North American F-86 Sabre
• Dassault M.D.450B Ouragan
• de Havilland Venom
• Grumman F9F Cougar
• Hawker Hunter
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17
• Saab J29D Tunnan

External links

• [Development] Supermarine Swift: Banking on Success