In this video, we talk about the Boulton Paul Defiant, an early World War II fighter aircraft from Britain that was only armed from a turret in the rear of the fuselage, making it one of several "turret fighters". We first talk about Stanley Baldwin and his "the bomber will always get through speech," and how that speech corresponded with British military tactics and design. We then go to the competition for a bomber interceptor, all of them being turret fighters, and how Boulton Paul won.
We then talk about the Defiant's performance compared to more conventional fighters like the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane, and how the turret resulted in poorer performance. We also talk about the potential advantages of the turret fighter concept and how it would function in a fight against a traditional fighter. We talk about the early successes of the turret fighter, and how enemy forces adapted to the concept rather quickly, forcing the Defiant away from daytime use. We end by talking about how the Defiant and similar planes are often called some of the worst of the war, and how that may be an unfair label.