Fairey Firefly - Variants

Variants

Firefly I / FR.I

Two variants of the Mk I Firefly were built; 429 "fighter" "Firefly F Mk I"s, built by Fairey and General Aircraft Ltd, and 376 "fighter/reconnaissance" Firefly "FR Mk I"s (which were fitted with the ASH detection radar). The last 334 Mk Is built were upgraded with the 1,765 hp (1,316 kW) Griffon XII engine.

Firefly NF.Mk II

Only 37 Mk II Fireflies were built, all of which were night fighter Firefly NF Mk IIs. They had a slightly longer fuselage than the Mk I and had modifications to house their airborne interception (AI) radar.

Firefly NF.Mk I

The NF.II was superseded by the Firefly NF Mk I "night fighter" variant.

Firefly T.Mk 1

Twin-cockpit pilot training aircraft. Post-war conversion of the Firefly Mk I.

Firefly T.Mk 2

Twin-cockpit armed operational training aircraft. Post-war conversion of the Firefly Mk I.

Firefly T.Mk 3

Used for Anti-submarine warfare training of observers. Postwar conversion of the Firefly Mk I.

Firefly TT.Mk I

Postwar, a small number of Firefly Mk Is were converted into target tug aircraft.

Firefly Mk III

A Firefly Mk III was proposed, based on the Griffon 61 engine, but never entered production.

Firefly Mk IV

The Firefly Mk IV was equipped with the 2,330 hp (1,740 kW) Griffon 72 engine and first flew in 1944, but did not enter service until after the end of the war.

Firefly FR.Mk 4

Fighter-reconnaissance version based on the Firefly Mk IV.

Firefly Mk 5

Firefly NF.Mk 5

Night fighter version based on the Firefly Mk 5.

Firefly RF.Mk 5

Reconnaissance fighter version based on the Firefly Mk 5.

Firefly AS.Mk 5

The later Firefly AS.Mk 5 was an anti-submarine aircraft, which carried American sonobuoys and equipment.

Firefly Mk 6

Firefly AS.Mk 6

The Fairefly AS.Mk 6 was an anti-submarine aircraft, which carried British equipment.

Firefly TT.Mk 4/5/6

Small numbers of AS.4/5/6s were converted into target tug aircraft.

Firefly AS.Mk 7

The Firefly AS.Mk 7 was an anti-submarine aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce Griffon 59 piston engine.

Firefly T.Mk 7

The Firefly T.Mk 7 was an interim ASW training aircraft.

Firefly U.Mk 8

The Firefly U.Mk 8 was a target drone aircraft; 34 Firefly T.7s were diverted on the production line for completion as target drones.

Firefly U.Mk 9

The Firefly U.Mk 9 was a target drone aircraft; 40 existing Firefly Mk AS.4 and AS.5 aircraft were converted to this role.