It was built to satisfy Air Ministry specification P. 27/32, which was for a single-engined long-range day bomber.
The conventional landing gear was hydraulically retractable by either an engine-driven or hand pump leaving the tyres partially exposed.
The long-chord cowled, nose-mounted engine drove a three-bladed propeller.
The pilot was seated ahead of the wing leading edge and the gunner/observer in a distant cockpit aft of the spar enclosed in a hand-operated turret.
[1] Data from Air Pictorial Oct. 1958 [3][4][5]General characteristics Performance Armament