Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter
The Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter was a prototype fighter built by Westland Aircraft. It was designed to carry a heavy 37 mm gun made by Coventry Ordnance Works (COW) and fire from the fuselage at an angle to attack bombers from below, a concept similar to later ideas like Schräge Musik. The project was Westland’s response to Air Ministry specification F.29/27 and was based on the earlier Westland Interceptor design, though the Interceptor had lost to the Gloster Gauntlet in a different specification.
The aircraft was an open cockpit, single‑engine metal monoplane with fabric covering. The gun was housed in the fuselage and aimed upward. The COW gun had been developed around 1918 for aviation use and had previously been trialed on the Airco DH.4.
The C.O.W. Gun Fighter first flew in December 1930, but the tests did not produce satisfactory results, so the project did not continue. Only one aircraft was built.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:16 (CET).