Sir Henry Tizard, Chairman of the Aeronautical Research Committee (ARC), was a proponent of a high-powered "sprint" engine for fighter aircraft and had foreseen the need for such a powerplant as early as 1935 with the threat of German air power looming.
"The Chairman remarked that if it was the desire of the Air Ministry to develop a type of sprint engine for home defence...there was the question as to how far fuel consumption could be disregarded.