The Skua answered an operational requirement associated with Rear Admiral Reginald Henderson's effort to build the Royal Navy's future carrier force. It combined four forward guns and a rear defensive weapon with a 500-pound semi-armour-piercing bomb, although its fighter label deserves caution. Mission configuration changed the balance between military load and fuel, showing how the same airframe was adapted for attack or fighter work. Flush-riveted stressed-skin construction, folding wings, retractable undercarriage, catapult strength, and arresting gear marked a major step beyond Blackburn's earlier biplanes. The design nevertheless remained constrained by its available engine power and by the attempt to satisfy several roles at once.
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Skua turns Henderson's carrier requirement into a fighter-dive-bomber
Rear Admiral Reginald Henderson's carrier programme produced the Blackburn Skua, an all-metal aircraft intended to combine dive-bombing, fighting, and reconnaissance.