Valom 72081 Bristol Brigand B.Mk.I (Pakistan, RAF) British light and fast bomber

The Bristol Brigand was a British low-wing bomber and torpedo plane from the Second World War and the post-war period. The drive was provided by two motors Bristol Centaurus 57 with 2470 hp each. The flight of the prototype took place in 1944, and serial production continued in the years 1946-1949, ending with the production of about 150 examples of this aircraft. The on-board armament consisted of four Hispano Mk. V cal. 20 mm. The machine could also carry a load of bombs or torpedoes weighing up to 910 kilograms and 8 unguided rockets.

The Bristol Brigand was created in response to the British Ministry of Aviation's 1942 specification for a new torpedo plane to replace the Bristol Beaufighter. The Bristol Airplane Company, responding to this specification, decided to develop a completely new plane, but to rely on many elements and subassemblies of the Buckingham plane. However, the tests and trials of the new machine took a long time and the flight of the prototype took place only in December 1944. Such a late flight of the Bristol Brigand machine resulted in the fact that only 11 examples of the torpedo version were made, and the structure of the aircraft was adapted to the role of a bomber. Several versions of this aircraft were created in the course of serial production: B Mk.I (bomber version), Met Mk. III (version of the meteorological reconnaissance), T Mk. IV and T Mk. V (training versions for radar operators). Bristol Brigand planes served primarily in the Middle and Far East. They took part in the suppression of communist guerrillas in Malaya. It was withdrawn from the RAF in 1958. Two copies were delivered to Pakistan.