Fighter aircraft use "C" (Nieuport 17 C.1). Although the term "fighter" specifies aircraft designed to shoot down other aircraft, such designs are often also useful as multirole fighter-bombers, strike fighters, and sometimes lighter, fighter-sized tactical ground-attack aircraft. This has always been the case, for instance the Sopwith Camel and other "fighting scouts" of World War I performed a great deal of ground-attack work. In World War II, the USAAF and RAF often favored fighters over dedicated light bombers or dive bombers, and types such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and Hawker Hurricane that were no longer competitive as aerial combat fighters were
Sopwith Snark available until March 1919, and the Snark did not make its first flight until July 1919. While it demonstrated reasonable performance and good maneuverability, (although not as good as the earlier Sopwith Triplane), by this time, it had been realised that the Dragonfly engine had serious problems, being prone to overheating and severe vibration, and plans for production of the Snark had been abandoned. The three Snarks continued in use for trials purposes until 1921. Sopwith Snark The Sopwith Snark was a British prototype fighter aircraft designed and built towards the end of the First World War to replace the