S.24/37 asks one carrier aircraft to do three jobs

S.24/37 answered Operational Requirement 53, part of the Navy's repeated effort from 1935 onward to improve its carrier strike aircraft. It demanded a single-engined monoplane able to dive-bomb, launch a torpedo, and perform reconnaissance from an aircraft carrier. The aircraft had to sustain six hours at reconnaissance speed, cover 600 nautical miles in strike configuration, fly at night, and remain within strict carrier takeoff and stall limits. Designers also had to reserve structure for a float undercarriage, even though no floatplane prototype was required. A maximum folding span of eighteen feet and provision for either one torpedo or several bomb combinations added more constraints. Reading the specification here shows that the Barracuda's compromises began with an unusually broad and exacting operational brief rather than with one isolated design mistake.