Following the Battle of Britain in 1940, the Royal Air Force (RAF) had planned to replace its Spitfire Mk.I and Mk.II fighters with the Mk.III, which had been under development for two years. The Mk.III included significant developments such as an improved wing design, a retractable tail wheel and a new Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engine. However, before the RAF could put the Mk.III into production, the Germans introduced the improved Messerschmitt Bf109F.

Since this new German fighter greatly outperformed the current Spitfires at high altitude, the RAF could not wait for factories to be re-tooled to produce the Mk.III. Therefore, they hurriedly developed an interim aircraft - the Sptifire Mk.V (the Mk.IV designation had already been assigned to another version).

Basically, the Mk.V consisted of a modified Mk.II airframe with a new Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 engine (a Merlin XX modified to ease production and improve high altitude performance). Initially, the wing remained unchanged but three different types emerged depending on the armament. With the suffix letter indicating the type of wing, the Mk.Va had eight Browning .303 machine guns, and the Mk.Vb had two Hispano 20 mm cannon and four machine guns. The Spitfire Mk.Vc introduced the "universal" wing which enabled this variant to be fitted with various combinations of armament - including four 20 mm. cannon and four .303 machine guns. In addition, the Spitfire Mk.Vb and Mk.Vc could carry two 250 lb bombs or one 500 lb bomb.

Unwilling to wait while the Mk.V went into hurried production, the RAF quickly converted more than 100 Spitfire Mk.I aircraft into the Mk.V version. These converted aircraft started arriving at the combat units in March 1941. In addition to these converted aircraft, a total of 6,464 Spitfire Mk.Vs were built between 1941 and 1943. Fighting on every front during the war, these Mk.Vs equipped more than 140 RAF squadrons and nine other Allied nations.

Originally, the Spitfire had been designed as a short range home defense fighter but, by 1941, the RAF had begun offensive operations over Nazi-occupied Europe. To extend the Mk.Vs range, the RAF adopted 9 and 30 gallon jettisonable fuel tanks that fit flush under the fuselage.

As the war progressed and fewer enemy fighters were met, the Spitfires began flying ground-strafing missions. To improve the low-altitude characteristics, most Spitfire Mk.V's had their wingtips removed. Categorized as low-altitude fighters, these aircraft carried the prefix L.F. (i.e. Spitfire L.F.Mk.Vc).

Crew:          One
Length:       30 ft
Wingspan:  37 ft (33 ft for L.F. version)
Weight:      6,785 lbs. maximum takeoff
Speed:        374 mph maximum at 13,000 ft
Ceiling:       37,000 ft
Engine:       12-cyl Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 @ 1,470 hp
Bomb load: two 250-lb. bombs or one 500-lb. bomb
Armament: Normally  two Hispano 20mm cannon (120 rounds/gun) and 4 Browning .303 machine guns (350 rounds/gun). Some with four Hispano 20mm cannon

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Deltaweb: The Spitfire is Sixty