 {| |} the blackburn b-25 roc was a british second world war-era fleet air arm fighter aircraft designed by blackburn aircraft ltd. it took its name from the mythical bird of the tales of the arabian nights, the roc. derived from the blackburn skua and developed in parallel, the roc differed in its adoption of a turret for its armament. operationally, the roc came to be viewed as inferior to existing aircraft, such as the skua and the type only had a brief front line service. ==design and development== on 31 december 1935, the british air ministry issued specification o.30/35 for a carrier-based turret-armed fighter.brew 2002, p. 26. blackburn proposed a derivative of the blackburn skua dive bomber, of which two prototypes had been ordered for the fleet air arm earlier that year, while boulton paul proposed the p.85, a redesigned version of its land-based defiant p.82 turret fighter, with either a hercules radial or merlin in-line engine.jackson 1968, p. 399.buttler, tony british secret projects: fighters and bombers p55 although the "sea defiant" was expected to be  faster, the roc was chosen. like the skua, the b-25 roc was a two-seat low-wing cantilever monoplane of all-metal construction. it was fitted with a retractable tailwheel undercarriage, while its wings folded for storage aboard aircraft carriers. it was powered by a bristol perseus radial engine driving a three-bladed propeller. it used the same boulton paul power operated gun turret as the defiant, with four .303&nbsp;in (7.7&nbsp;mm) browning machine guns. it retained the wing mounted dive brakes of the skua, with bomb racks under each wing for two 250&nbsp;lb (110&nbsp;kg) bombs and eight practice bombs to be carried.mason 1992, p. 271.jackson 1968, pp. 411â412. on 28 april 1937, the air ministry placed an order for 136 rocs. as blackburn already had full order books for the skua and the botha torpedo bomber for the raf, it was decided to sub-contract detailed design and production to boulton paul at wolverhampton, which delayed deliveries of the defiant.jackson 1968, p. 412.buttler, tony british secr
Blackburn_aircraft Boulton_Paul_aircraft British_fighter_aircraft_1930a1939 Carrier-based_aircraft Low-wing_aircraft Single-engined_tractor_aircraft Turret_fighters