The Spitfire's elliptical wing had a thin cross-section. This allowed a higher top speed than other fighters of the time, including the Hawker Hurricane. The elliptic shaped wing gives the aircraft a very low amount of induced drag. Speed was seen as essential to carry out the mission of home defence against enemy bombers. The original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768 kW).