Editing Gloster Meteor (section)

===Night fighter===
To replace the increasingly obsolete [[de Havilland Mosquito]] as a [[night fighter]], the Meteor was adapted to serve in the role as an interim aircraft. Gloster had initially proposed a night fighter design to meet the Air Ministry specification for the Mosquito replacement, based on the two seater trainer variant of the Meteor, with the pilot in the front seat and the navigator in the rear.<ref name="Williams aero 1 p6-7">Williams ''[[Aeroplane Monthly]]'' April 1995, p. 6–7.</ref> Once accepted however, work on the project was swiftly transferred to Armstrong Whitworth to perform both the detailed design process and production of the type; the first prototype flew on 31 May 1950. Although based on the T.7 twin seater, it used the fuselage and tail of the F.8, and the longer wings of the F.3. An extended nose contained the AI Mk 10 (the 1940s Westinghouse SCR-720) Air Intercept radar. As a consequence the 20&nbsp;mm cannons were moved into the wings, outboard of the engines. A ventral fuel tank and wing mounted drop tanks completed the Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.11.<ref name="Williams AE p45-6">Williams 1984, pp. 45–46.</ref><ref>Butler and Buttler 2006, pp. 40–42.</ref>

[[File:Gloster Meteor NF.14 WS841 264.HMT BLA 6.9.55 edited-2.jpg|thumb|left|Operational Meteor NF.14 of [[No. 264 Squadron RAF]] in 1955]]

As [[radar]] technology developed, a new Meteor night fighter was developed to use the improved US-built [[Radar configurations and types#Detection and search radars|APS-21]] system. The ''NF.12'' first flew on 21 April 1953. It was similar to the NF.11 but had a nose section {{convert|17|in|cm}} longer;<ref name="Williams AE p50-1">Williams 1984, pp. 50–51.</ref> the fin was enlarged to compensate for the greater keel area of the enlarged nose and to counter the airframe reaction to the sideways oscillating motion of the radar scanner which caused difficulty aiming the guns, an anti-tramp motor operating on the rudder was fitted midway up the front leading edge of the fin. The NF.12 also had the new Rolls-Royce Derwent 9 engines and the wings were reinforced to handle the new engine.<ref name="James p297">James 1971, p. 297.</ref><ref name ="bb 44">Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 44.</ref> Deliveries of the NF.12 started in 1953, with the type entering squadron service in early 1954,<ref name="Williams aero p3 p14">Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' June 1995, p. 14.</ref> equipping seven squadrons (Nos [[No. 85 Squadron RAF|85]], [[No. 25 Squadron RAF|25]], [[No. 152 Squadron RAF|152]], [[No. 46 Squadron RAF|46]], [[No. 72 Squadron RAF|72]], [[No. 153 Squadron RAF|153]] and [[No. 64 Squadron RAF|64]]);<ref name="James p366">James 1971, p. 366.</ref> the aircraft was replaced over 1958–1959.

The final Meteor night fighter was the ''NF.14''. First flown on 23 October 1953, the NF.14 was based on the NF.12 but had an even longer nose, extended by a further {{Convert | 17 | in}} to accommodate new equipment, increasing the total length to {{convert|51|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}} and a larger bubble canopy to replace the framed T.7 version.<ref name="Williams AE p51-3">Williams 1984, pp. 51–53.</ref> Just 100 NF.14s were built; they first entered service in February 1954 beginning with No. 25 Squadron and were being replaced as early as 1956 by the [[Gloster Javelin]]. Overseas, they remained in service a little longer, serving with No. 60 Squadron at [[Tengah]], Singapore until 1961. As the NF.14 was replaced, some 14 were converted to training aircraft as the ''NF(T).14'' and given to No. 2 Air Navigation School on [[RAF Thorney Island]] until transferring to No. 1 Air Navigation School at RAF Stradishall where they served until 1965.<ref>Butler and Buttler 2006, pp. 44–46.</ref>