Spitfire Mk IX

Family: Supermarine Spitfire
Class: Fighter
Produced: 5,656
Changes: Mk VC airframe with a two-stage two-speed Merlin 60-series engine, the first ones converted from VCs. F IX: Merlin 61, then 63/63A, discontinued in the second half of 1943. LF IX: Merlin 66, operational from March 1943, over 4,000 built, 404 mph at 21,000 ft. HF IX: Merlin 70, in service from spring 1944, about 400 built, 405 mph at 25,400 ft at 7,320 lb. Late aircraft had the E wing with two .50 in Brownings in place of the four .303s, and some had rear fuselage tanks and a cut-down fuselage with a bubble canopy.
Crew: 1
Engines: 1
Internal fuel: 386 L

Armament

Weapon	Count	Rounds	Position
Hispano Mk II	2	120	Wing
Browning .303 Mk II	4	350	Wing

Name	Changes	Armament	From
1 × 500 lb + 2 × 250 lb	One 500 lb bomb on the centre-section rack and a 250 lb bomb under each wing.	500 lb GP bomb, 250 lb GP bomb ×2	—
2 × RP-3	One RP-3 under each wing, fitted to some IXe and XVIe of No. 74 Squadron in early 1945.	RP-3 ×2	Jan 1945

≈ Jul 1942 – May 1945

≈ Jul 1943 – Apr 1944