The Hare, which flew for the first time on 24th February 1928, was the first Handley Page type to employ the distinctive sesquiplane wing layout to be used later on the Gugnunc and Hannibal. The interplane struts lay at a steep lateral angle and drag bracing was by diagonal struts, rather than wires. Designed to meet Specification 23/25 for a two-seat landplane bomber with good high-altitude performance, the Hare, J8622, was powered by a Bristol Jupiter VIII sleeve-valve engine of 485 hp. The outboard leading edge of the upper wing had automatic slats. Armament comprised a fixed forward-firing Vickers gun on the port side of the cockpit and a Scarf-mounted Lewis gun for the observer. The bomb-load was carried on under-wing racks.
The Hare originally flew without the leading-edge slats, had a four-blade propeller and also a larger fin and rudder than that finally fitted. At a later date a two-blade propeller replaced the original, a smaller fin and taller rudder were fitted and the undercarriage was changed to allow a torpedo to be slung below the fuselage. The undercarriage modification involved the deletion of the tie-bar between wheels, and the lateral loads of this undercarriage were taken by a strut braced to the lower wing at the interplane strut joint. At about this time also, wider chord ailerons were fitted; slats were also fitted - initially to the outboard sections of the leading edge, and then over the whole of the leading edge except for the centre-section.
At some time later during its life J8622 was fitted with an Armstrong Siddeley Panther engine of 525 hp. It was finally sold and given the civilian registered G-ACEL, for a proposed long distance flight, but this flight did not take place and the Hare was finally scrapped at Hanworth in 1937.
The Gloster Goring, Hawker Harrier, and Westland Witch were also produced to meet the Specification 23/25 but no production orders were received for any of the four types.