With the Typhoon having failed as fighter, Hawker designer Sydney Camm revised the basic airframe and came up with the Tempest, a potential successor to the Spitfire which ended up being probably the finest Allied low-altitute fighter of the war. The most notable difference between the Tempest and the Typhoon were the elliptical wings found on the former, other than that both aircraft share many characteristics including ground-attack capability although the Tempest's main role was intercepting V-1 flying bombs and Me 262 jet fighters as well as performing cross-Channel sweeps or, after D-Day, from bases on the Continent. It could hold its own against most German fighters, even the formidable jets, and by war's end racked an enviable tally of 20 shot down in addition to over one-third of all V-1s successfuly intercepted. The Tempest remained in service with the RAF for various years after the war but did not see further combat. It was also operated by New Zealand during wartime, and by Canada, India, and Pakistan post-war.

First flown on 2 September 1942, the Tempest was designed with various different engine configurations in mind. The Mk. I was fitted with the Sabre IV while the Mk. II went instead with the Centaurus radial, profiting from experience with the Fw 190. The Mk. III and Mk. IV had Rolls-Royce Griffon engines while the Mk. V was given the Sabre II. In the event, only the Mk. II and Mk. V were ever put into production, with the latter being the only Tempests to see combat during the war. The Mk. II, which was expected to be used in the Pacific, was kept in active service post-war and was regarded as superior to its higher-designated counterpart.