[Graham Boak]

I agree with your comment as to the design requirements for the Battle, but once it had appeared it could not be redesigned overnight into a much heavier aircraft with different armament, role, and crewing philosophy, even if an engine had magically appeared overnight. It was also a rather large machine for such a mission - as demonstrated in practice the single-seat fighter was far more survivable in this environment, once the weapons and the tactics had appeared..