Venom FB.4

Venom FB.4

Vampire F.B.5

Hunter F.1

Venom FB.4

Vampire F.B.5

Hunter F.1

Britain

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.7	8.7	9.0

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Research:120 000

Purchase:340 000

Show in game

This page is about the British jet fighter Venom FB.4. For the naval variant, see Sea Venom FAW 20.

Description

The Venom FB.4 is a rank V British jet fighter with a battle rating of 8.7 (AB/RB) and 9.0 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.43.

Naturally, the Venom follows the basic principles of jet combat. It must keep its speed, turn when necessary, the pilot should avoid speed costly manoeuvres and prefer lag-displacement manoeuvres to any sort of deceleration manoeuvre, unless in critical situations in which the method of energy loss should never be shutting the engine off - instead, utilize the Venom's air brakes.

General info

Flight Performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 0 m - sea level)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	1,013	998	12192	22.2	23.5	28.2	26.0	850
Upgraded	1,038	1,027		21.8	22.0	41.1	34.2

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	420	520	520	320	~10	~5

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 650	< 640	< 640	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Empty mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
de Havilland Ghost-103		1	4,060 kg		226 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)				Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		10m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	35m fuel
1,000 kg	Centrifugal-flow turbojet		4,584 kg	5,101 kg	5,618 kg	5,876 kg	7,080 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB / SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (100%)
Condition	100%	WEP	10m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	35m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	2,120 kgf	N/A	0.46	0.42	0.38	0.36	0.30
Optimal	2,120 kgf (0 km/h)	N/A	0.46	0.42	0.38	0.36	0.30

Survivability and armour

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass - Armored windscreen
• 12.7 mm Steel - Armored plate behind the pilot
• 3 mm Steel - Armored plate under the engine

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Venom FB.4 is armed with:

• 4 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.V cannons, chin-mounted (150 rpg = 600 total)

Suspended armament

The Venom FB.4 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 2 x 1,000 lb G.P. 1,000 lb Mk.I bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 2 x 500 lb G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)
• 8 x RP-3 rockets
• 2 x 500 lb G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV bombs + 8 x RP-3 rockets (1,000 lb total)

Usage in battles

The Venom's play style should be a healthy mix of the two dominating ways of flying jet fighters. The Venom is a fast aircraft, and keeping it fast is important in order to keep up with enemies and to have enough energy to sustain manoeuvres - it should be noted that the Venom is impossible to rip from G's, at least without a very strong effort to do so, so the Venom is indeed a good high-speed performer. However, it does not best either the MiG-15bis or the F-86F-2 in level flight. Therefore, speed alone cannot be relied on for fighting top-tier jets.

On the other hand, the impressive thrust-to-weight ratio of the Venom's engine means that pilots should use its sustained rate of climb as an advantage. When fighting Soviet opposition - mostly MiG-15s, the advantage in rate of climb falls in relevance, since that is one of the MiG's great trump cards. However, Venom pilots should always climb a bit instead of "mowing the lawn". 600 to 800 km/h is a good range of speed to climb into the battlefield, maintaining airspeed, yet gaining altitude and opening the range of opportunities to engage.

Venom pilots should avoid being alone - in fact, the Venom can excel at baiting enemies and/or making them lose energy, leaving them vulnerable to engagement by allied fighters. The fact that the Venom is not the fastest of top-tier jets means that being alone vs two or more enemies requires a multitude of defensive manoeuvres (the Venom excels at lag displacement rolls aka. barrel rolls) to come out alive. Sometimes, all it takes is a barrel roll to get behind an enemy and shoot it down, but against multiple opponents that think before manoeuvring, being alone can spell disaster.

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair			Offensive 20 mm
II	New boosters	Compressor	Airframe		GLBC mk.3
III	Wings repair	Engine		New 20 mm cannons
IV	G-suit		Cover		GRC mk.8

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very manoeuvrable for a top jet, comparable to the Meteor Mk 8 with a better roll rate
• Good sustained climb rate, capable of catching up to Me 163s in a sustained climb
• Stable gun platform
• Better cockpit visibility than the Vampire by a bit, depending on your preference it may be the second best to the Hawker Hunter

Cons:

• Inefficient air brakes
• Tail strikes on take-off and landings may be devastating
• Reaches wing-ripping G-forces easily (+12 G)
• Reaches G-LOC easily thanks to manoeuvrability

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === Encyclopedia Info ===, also if applicable).

In-game description

The de Havilland DH112 Venom was a single engine jet fighter which entered service with the Royal Air Force in 1952. Initially developed as a private venture with plans for the export market, the Venom was a direct successor to the de Havilland Vampire and shared the earlier fighter’s twin tail boom design and composite structure. However, the Venom was fitted with a more powerful de Havilland Ghost jet engine which had begun testing as early as 1944 and had a new, thinner wing. The aircraft was armed with four 20mm Hispano cannon and provisions for up to 2000 lbs of bombs or eight 60 lb rockets.

A prototype first flew on September 2nd 1949 and after a successful period of testing, the first production model Venoms to enter service were the FB1, equipping No.11 Squadron based in Germany in August 1952. A two-seat night fighter variant equipped with radar - the NF2 - entered service with No.23 Squadron at Coltishall in November 1953. After a maiden test flight on 29th December 1953, the Venom FB4 variant entered service with the RAF in 1955. Featuring a modified tailplane, an improved de Havilland Ghost 105 jet engine rated at 5150 lbf and an ejector seat, some 250 were manufactured. This was the final land based version of the aircraft to see service in Britain, although variants of the Sea Venom continued to serve in the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm.

RAF Venom FB4s of Nos 6, 8 and 249 Squadrons operating out of Akrotiri in Cyprus flew alongside Royal Navy Sea Venoms in the Suez Crisis of 1956. Venoms were mainly used in the strike role, attacking Egyptian airfields and shipping. Further conflicts where the Venom saw operational use included Malaya, Aden, Oman and Kenya, as well as part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force based in Germany.

Although the Venom’s performance built considerably on that of the Vampire it was still, in effect, a first generation jet fighter and was largely outperformed by contemporaries such as the F86 Sabre or MiG 15. The last RAF Venoms were retired in 1962, although export variants were also used by Sweden, Venezuela, Iraq, Australia and Switzerland – the final Swiss Venoms were not retired until 1983.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

• [Devblog] Venom FB.Mk.4

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.