Bristol 164 Brigand

 

The Bristol Type 164 Brigand followed on from the Bristol 156 Beaufighter and was similarly aimed at the torpedo-carrying fighter and strike aircraft role. Primarily designed by Bristol Aeroplane Companyfor an ant-shipping / ground attack aircraft it was also utilised as a dive-bomber. Designed by Leslie J Frise against specification H.7/42, it was conceived as a faster edition of the Bristol Beaufighter utilising the wings, tail and undercarriage designs from the Bristol 163 Buckingham.

The Bristol 164 Brigand was a three-crew aircraft and was configured to carry a torpedo and rocket projectiles. Ultimately, most were deployed (B.1) in a light bomber / strike role with bombs, four forward-firing cannons and rocket projectiles.

 

The Bristol 164 Brigand prototype (MX988) was first flown on 4th December 1944.

 

Four prototypes and 143 production aircraft were built, of which 118 were completed as Bristol 164 Brigand TF.Mk.1 or Bristol 164 Brigand B.Mk.1 with a further 16 as Bristol 164 Brigand Met.Mk.3 (for meteorological flights). The remainder were Bristol 164 Brigand T.Mk.4 and Bristol Brigand 164 T.Mk.5 Operational Trainers. Many early Mark 1 aircraft were also subsequently converted to these latter roles.

 

 

The type served operationally in the Malaya campaign, where the aircraft was found to be both popular and robust until it was eventually superseded by the De Havilland DH103 Hornet and the English Electric Canberra in February 1953.

Type	Description
Type 164 Brigand 4 built	Prototype with Bristol Centarus VII engines
Brigand TF.1 11 built	Production variant Torpedo Bomber
Brigand B.1 106 built, 11 conv	Bomber variant
Brigand MET.3 16 built	Unarmed reconnaissance variant
Brigand T.4 9 built	Trainer variant with airborne interception radar
Brigand T.5 9 conversions	Improved Trainer variant