The de Havilland Sea Venom was designed to replace its predecessor, the D.H Vampire, in Fleet Air Arm service, although it was basically the same aircraft. Changes to the design included replacing the Vampire's Goblin engine with a more powerful de Havilland Ghost 104 turbojet, a larger, thinner wing with 355 litre (78 Imperial Gallons) fuel tanks on the tip, a revised fuel system, spring-tab controls & extended boundary-layer deflectors forward of the inlets. The Sea Venom was developed (as a private venture by de Havilland) into a two-seater, which later became the Sea Venom FAW.Mk20, which had an AI Mk10 radar, folding wings, an arrester hook, other naval equipment & the D.H Ghost Mk.103 engine.

The NF.Mk2A variant of the Venom was operated by the RAF & the Royal Swedish Air Force, but was not the only Venom to achieve export success. The FB.Mk1 was built in large numbers for Switzerland, mainly under licence by the EFW (Federal Aircraft Factory at Emmen, Flug-und Fahrzeugwerke at Altenrhein & Pilatus at Stans) consortium. Around 250 FB.Mk1s & FB.Mk4s were built, the type serving with the Swiss Air Force from 1952 to 1983, a span of 31 years.

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