The Gloster Sparrowhawk was a single-seat fighter aircraft designed and produced during the early 1920s by the British aircraft manufacturer Gloster. It was developed by aircraft designer Henry Folland, who had recently joined Gloster after the winding up of Nieuport & General; he used the earlier Nieuport Nighthawk fighter as the basis for the new aircraft. The Sparrowhawk was developed as a navalised fighter and trainer aircraft in response to the needs of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which sought to develop its naval air arm with British assistance through the Sempill Mission. A total of 50 aircraft were completed by Gloster within six months of the order's placement, while a further 40 were locally assembled in Japan at the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal.