While the design met the requirements of Air Board Specification A1(a) for a replacement for the Sopwith Camel, it was principally produced to test the abilities of Armstrong Whitworth's new design team, and was not considered a serious competitor for the requirement.
[1] Despite this, Armstrong Whitworth was granted a licence in January 1918 to allow the construction of two prototypes.
The engine in the nose was enclosed by a circular cowl with a deep hump above the cowl housing two .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns that fired through the propeller arc using synchronisation gear.
[4] The type was not subject to formal evaluation by the Air Ministry, with the poor view from the cockpit being criticised.
[5] By the time the Armadillo appeared the Sopwith Snipe, powered by the same engine and faster was already in large scale production and Murphy had started work on the more advanced Ara fighter, so the Armadillo was abandoned, the second prototype not being completed.