page_title: Gloster Gladiator
section_title: Variants
hierarchical_section_title: Gloster Gladiator / Variants
caption_attribution_description: English: Gloster Gladiator Mk I of the 1st Squadron of the Irish Air Corps Čeština: Gloster Gladiator Mk.I z výzbroje 1. perutě Irského letectva
context_page_description: The Gloster Gladiator was a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s.
  Developed privately as the Gloster SS.37, it was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat.
  The Gladiator saw action in almost all theatres during the Second World War, with a large number of air forces, some of them on the Axis side. The RAF used it in France, Norway, Greece, the defence of Malta, the Middle East, and the brief Anglo-Iraqi War. Other countries deploying the Gladiator included China against Japan, beginning in 1938; Finland against the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War; Sweden as a neutral non-combatant; and Norway, Belgium, and Greece resisting Axis invasion of their respective lands.
  The South African pilot Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle was the top Gladiator ace with 15 victories with the type.
context_section_description: SS.37
  Prototype.
  Gladiator I
  Version powered by a single 840 hp (630 kW) Bristol Mercury IX air-cooled radial piston engine. The aircraft was designated J 8 in Swedish Air Force service. Delivered 1937–38, 378 built.
  Gladiator II
  Version powered by a single Bristol Mercury VIIIA air-cooled radial piston engine. The aircraft was designated J 8A in Swedish Air Force service. Delivered 1938–39, 270 built.
  Sea Gladiator Interim
  Single-seat fighter biplane for the Royal Navy, 38 modified Gladiator II aircraft. Fitted with arrestor hooks. Serial numbers: N2265 – N2302.
  Sea Gladiator
  Single-seat fighter biplane for the Royal Navy, 60 built. Fitted with arrestor hooks and provision for dinghy stowage. Serial numbers: N5500 – N5549 and N5565 – N5574.
caption: Gloster Gladiator Mk I of the 1st Squadron of the Irish Air Corps
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