The Bristol Type 146 was a British single-seat, eight-gun fighter monoplane prototype built to a mid-1930s Air Ministry contract.

[1] The Type 146 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with tapering wings of moderate dihedral on the outer sections.

[1] The Type 146 was designed to be powered by a supercharged Bristol Perseus sleeve valve radial engine, but this was not ready, and the older, lower-horsepower Mercury IX was used instead.

[1] The Type 146 flew for the first time on 11 February 1938, in the hands of Cyril Uwins and was flight tested satisfactorily before going on to be assessed against the F.5/34 specification, by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Martlesham Heath in April 1938.

The RAF believed that the future of British fighter design was with the emerging Rolls-Royce Merlin-engined aircraft (Specification F.36/34) which had more power and cleaner aerodynamics.