Gloster Javelin Country: UK Type: Fighter Manufacturer: Gloster Service: 1956 - 1968 First Flight: 26 November 1951 Production: 436

The Gloster Javelin was an all-weather interceptor aircraft that served with Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) in the late 1950s and most of the 1960s. It was a large T-tailed delta-wing aircraft designed for night and bad weather operations. This was the last aircraft to bear the Gloster name.

The Javelin began with a 1947 Air Ministry requirement for a high-performance night fighter that led to orders for prototypes of two of the competing designs, the Gloster GA.5 and the de Havilland DH.110. When it appeared that the Gloster design would be ready sooner and would be simpler and cheaper to build, the de Havilland submission was rejected; though the company was to continue development of the DH.110 as a private venture that eventually resulted in the naval de Havilland Sea Vixen. The Gloster design had a distinctive appearance, its broad delta wings surmounted by a huge finned T-tail. The GA.5 first flew on the 26 November 1951.

The Javelin entered service with the RAF in 1956 with No. 46 Squadron RAF based at RAF Odiham, England and at its peak (in the years 1959 to 1962), equipped 14 squadrons. After 1962, numbers dropped rapidly and, by 1964, only four squadrons were flying the type.

The closest that the RAF Javelins came to combat was during the Malaysian Confrontation with Indonesia from September 1963 until August 1966. Javelins of 60 Squadron, later joined by 64 Squadron operated out of RAF Tengah, Singapore flying combat patrols over the jungles of Malaysia. In 1964, an Indonesian Air Force C-130 Hercules crashed while trying to evade interception by a Javelin. During June 1967, following the disbandment of No. 64 Squadron RAF, 60 Squadron were deployed to Kai Tak, Hong Kong because of unrest in the colony during China's Cultural Revolution.

The last of the type was withdrawn from service in 1968 with the disbandment of 60 Squadron at RAF Tengah at the end of April 1968. One aircraft remained flying with the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Boscombe Down until 24 January 1975.

General characteristics