The de Havilland Vixen might have been the RAF’s primary night fighter from the mid-1950s, rather than the Gloster Javelin, but 1952 would prove critical for the DH110
Specification F44/46 of January 1947 called for a new two-seat night fighter for the RAF and de Havilland’s DH110, with a low wing loading, was selected as the best proposal on technical grounds. It was also a logical follow-on to previous de Havilland work, namely a combination of the tail boom layout proved by the wartime Vampire fighter and the swept wing demonstrated on the firm’s post-war DH108 research aircraft. A proposal from Hawker was placed second while, at this time, Gloster’s main design effort was directed towards a new day fighter fitted with a delta wing configuration.
