Spitfire GR.13A - A modern spit' [Photos fixed] :)

[Raptormodeller]

Spitfire GR.13-A (2011)
Operated by SNAO (Special Naval Air Operations)

One of my first whiffs, made for a group build last year on another forum. Thought I'd show it y'all. Enjoy!  

Kit used: Airfix Spitfire FR.46/47 1:48

'Extras': Bits cut off the tail of the spit. itself, leftover hardpoints, bombs and the cannon from my 1:72 Harrier; 3 scratch built sensors.

Armement: ADEN mk.4 cannon, 3 250 pound POST GPB bombs, 4 AGM-163 'Mother', 1 laser designator, 1 dumb bomb aimer and 1 underwater vibration detector (on the fuselage)
 
Back story:

At the end of WW2, the big cheeses at the FAA and RAF were suitably impressed by the Hawker Typhoon in its CAS/ground attack role.
This got the FAA and RAF thinking:
- a future war was predictable
- with the advent of the jet-age would these fast jets be adequate at CAS
- CAS would be crucial in a future campaign.
In late 1947 a paper titled "CAS, what is it?" Was published, the MOD thought long and hard; and in 1950 they issued a GOR to Hawker and Supermarine stating: An adequate aircraft highly capable of CAS, ground attack,SEAD, low level penetration, no faster than 500mph, preferably a piston engined aircraft/turboprop and finally would have a very large range of available weapons.
After reading a pretty vague yet direct GOR, Hawker and Supermarine decided to collaberate on the project, they decided to modify the Spitfire and make a naval and airforce version. Supermarine worked on the aerodynamics and general flight charactaristics while Hawker worked on the attack characteristics.
In 1953 the Spitfire FGA.1 along with the Seafire FR.50 took to the skies for te first time together.
The plane was loved by the crews because it flew well, looked good and obliterated anything that was deamed a threat. It was praised so much by the RAF and FAA, that the USA bought 2 squadrons worth of FR.50's, but on a strict contract not to modify nor export the plane.
Thousands (literally) of the type were sold to export.
In 1980 however a new, bigger,badder version of the spitfire was created by BAC: the GR.1. There no longer was a dedicated naval/air force version, the new plane could even be embarked on HMS Invincible. Highly upgraded during its life, it served valiantly in the Falklands,first Gulf war and the Kosovo war. However in 2001 the whole Spitfire force was abruptly disbanded and decommissioned. No grounds for this early retirement was given to the FAA and RAF by the MOD.
Because of this, during op Telic the RAF and FAA screamed at the MOD for a replacement,none came. It took the Afhganistan conflict for the MOD to turn its head and issue a UOR. 1 year later, in 2007 the Spitfire was reborn rather publically at Le Bourget airshow, in the form of GR.13.A. It was another succes, export wise and troop wise. The USAF, rather envious of the new plane upgraded the A10C to A10D, an unofficial arms race is on between the Warthog and the Spitfire.

Glossary:

SNAO: (Special Naval Air Operations) Formed discreetly in 1983 following the Falklands war. This was a highly capable, highly adaptable
special forces squadron operated by pilots from the Fleet Air Arm. Widely considered to have the TOUGHEST selection course in the world.
Usually works behind the scenes, and is always on operations, even in peacetime. It disbanded its GR.13-A Spitfires in 2012 in favour of the specially modified GR.13-B.

POST GPB: (Pure Oxygen Suspended Torpex, General Purpose Bomb) A bomb with pure oxygen bubbles suspended in Torpex to create a larger crater with a smaller bomb. Used solely by special forces (SAOS, SNAO) and can be fitted with a multitude of precision guidance systems.

AGM-163 'Mother': This missile bears an uncanny resemblance to early WW2 rockets. The warhead contains 4 30mm guided rockets, the nose-cone is fired at 2 miles from the target and these rockets ignite and weave their merry way to the target. Allows the pilot to shoot at 4 targets with 1 missile. Used Solely by special forces.

The photos:














chomp comp
-raptor

[Captain Canada]

I'm just getting X's for the pics, but the description sure sounds tempting !

[chrisonord]

Yep, no pictures here either   
Chris.

[Raptormodeller]

Yep, no pictures here either   
Chris.

I'm just getting X's for the pics, but the description sure sounds tempting !

Woops, I'll get those fixed right now.

[Raptormodeller]

Photos should be fixed now 

[kerick]

Nice Whif! Reminds me of the Piper Enforcer. I always like seeing WW2 types upgraded.

[Captain Canada]

Nice one ! Looks very sinister in those colours.  It has some potential for sure, maybe a turbo prop ?

[chrisonord]

C.C took the words out of my mouth there, very sinister looking. Could be an enemy aircraft off an Airwolf episode.
Chris.

[Tophe]

Mysterious!