SUPERMARINE ATTACKER: Without This Curious British Fighter, There Would Have Been No MiG-15

Although it was the first service to land a jet fighter on a carrier at sea, the Royal Navy was slow to give operational squadrons jets. When it did so, the first attempt was the Supermarine Attacker. It would be fair to say that the Attacker was a rather disappointing fighter. It performed quite poorly and was a bit of a death trap.

But the Attacker has one claim to fame. In developing it, Supermarine helped Rolls Royce amend the design of the Nene. And the Nene went on to power both the Grumman Panther and, in "license" built form, the MiG-15. So without the Attacker, the MiG-15 would have been a much less formidable opponent in the skies of Korea.

I hope you enjoyed this one. I researched it hoping that I'd find a diamond in the rough. I didn't. But it is a good baseline for understanding Fleet Air Arm procurement in the early and middle Cold War.

Sources

"Supermarine Attacker Swift And Scimitar" by Philip Birtles is a great primer on the type
"Supermarine Aircraft Since 1914" by Andrews & Morgan is, as ever, really good background on the aircraft and its development. Probably the one to get if you have a passing interest!
Crash data came from Aviation Safety Network