The Attacker was designed to meet a 1944 RAF requirement. It combined the laminar-flow wing of the Spiteful with the Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal-flow turbojet, & first flew in July 1946. The RAF lost interest in the Attacker, but development continued thanks to the growing interest in the aircraft of the Royal Navy. A semi-navalised Attacker with an arrester hook, wing spoilers & long-stroke main units on the tailwheel-type landing-gear flew in June 1947, but further development was slow, & the first production Attacker F.Mk1 did not enter service until August 1951, over 4 years after the navalised aircraft's first flight. The Attacker F.Mk1 design was later modified into a fighter-bomber (designated FB.Mk1), which was basically an F.Mk1 with underwing armaments. Deliveries of the F.Mk1 & FB.Mk1 amounted to 61 aircraft. These were followed by the Attacker FB.Mk2, which featured better ailerons, a stronger cockpit canopy & other improvements. Production of the FB.Mk2 amounted to 120 aircraft; 84 were delivered to the Fleet Air Arm & a further 36 land-based equivalents were built for the Pakistani Air Force.

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