page_title: Bristol Beaufighter
section_title: Variants
hierarchical_section_title: Bristol Beaufighter / Variants
caption_attribution_description: English: Bristol 156 Beaufighter TT.10 Target tug aircraft of 34 Squadron Royal Air Force at Cambridge Airport in June 1951
context_page_description: The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter was a multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the UK. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber. The Beaufighter proved to be an effective night fighter, which came into service with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, its large size allowing it to carry heavy armament and early airborne interception radar without major performance penalties.
  The Beaufighter was used in many roles; receiving the nicknames Rockbeau for its use as a rocket-armed ground attack aircraft and Torbeau as a torpedo bomber against Axis shipping, in which it replaced the Beaufort. In later operations, it served mainly as a maritime strike/ground attack aircraft, RAF Coastal Command having operated the largest number of Beaufighters amongst all other commands at one point. The Royal Australian Air Force also made extensive use of the type as an anti-shipping aircraft, such as during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
context_section_description: Beaufighter Mk IF
  Two-seat night fighter variant
  Beaufighter Mk IC
  The "C" stood for coastal command variant; many were modified to carry bombs
  Beaufighter Mk IIF
  However well the Beaufighter performed, the Short Stirling bomber programme by late 1941 had a higher priority for the Hercules engine, and the Rolls-Royce Merlin XX-powered Mk IIF night fighter was the result
  Beaufighter Mk III/IV
  The Mark III and Mark IV were to be Hercules and Merlin powered Beaufighters with a new, slimmer fuselage, carrying an armament of six cannons and six machine guns that improved performance. The necessary costs of the changes to the production line led to the curtailing of the marks.
  Beaufighter Mk V
  The Vs had a Boulton Paul turret with four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns mounted aft of the cockpit supplanting one pair of cannons and the wing-mounted machine guns. Only two (Merlin-engined) Mk Vs were built. When tested by the A&AEE, R2274 was capable of 302 mph at 19,000 ft.
  Beaufighter Mk VI
  The Hercules returned with the next major version in 1942, the Mk VI, which was eventually built to over 1,000 examples. Changes included a dihedral tailplane.
  Beaufighter Mk VIC
  Coastal Command version, similar to the Mk IC
  Beaufighter Mk VIF
  Night fighter equipped with AI Mark VIII radar
  Beaufighter Mk VI (ITF)
  Interim torpedo fighter version
  Beaufighter Mk VII
  Proposed Australian-built variant with Hercules 26 engines, not built
  Beaufighter Mk VIII
  Proposed Australian-built variant with Hercules XVII engines, not built
  Beaufighter Mk IX
  proposed Australian-built variant with Hercules XVII engines, not built
  Beaufighter TF Mk X
  Two-seat torpedo fighter aircraft, dubbed the "Torbeau". Hercules XVII engines with cropped superchargers improved low-altitude performance. The last major version (2,231 built) was the Mk X. The later production models featured a dorsal fin.
  Beaufighter Mk XIC
  Coastal Command version of the Mk X, with no torpedo gear
  Beaufighter Mk XII
  Proposed long-range variant of the Mk 11 with drop tanks, not built
  Beaufighter Mk 21
  The Australian-made DAP Beaufighter. Changes included Hercules XVII engines, four 20 mm cannons in the nose, four Browning .50 in (12.7 mm) in the wings and the capacity to carry eight 5 in (130 mm) High Velocity Aircraft Rockets, two 250 lb (110 kg) bombs, two 500 lb (230 kg) bombs and one Mk 13 torpedo.
  Beaufighter TT Mk 10
  After the war, many RAF Beaufighters were converted into target tug aircraft
  Australian experimental prototypes
  Twin Merlin engines;
  40mm Bofors gun fitted.
caption: A Beaufighter TT.10 target tug of 34 Squadron in 1951
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "750", "Image YResolution": "750", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2010:09:07 16:50:29", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "184", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "422", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4904", "EXIF ExifVersion": "[0, 2, 2, 0]", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:09:07 15:33:09", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:09:07 15:33:09", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "[0, 1, 0, 0]", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1036", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "667"}