One of the most efficient fighting scouts of the Great War, the Spad 7 was created by the Societe Anonyme pour l'aviation et ses derives and generally known by the acronym SPAD. The Spad scout was a fast rugged, dependable machine although not particularly manoeverable and first few in April 1916. The Spad was widely used on the Western Front with 3500 machines being built in France and an additional 220 built in the UK and 100 in Russia.