Tsr 2
Tsr 2
I have a personal interest in the TSR 2 my father worked as production controller on the project and I worked for English Electric prior to joining up. As a young apprentice in the factory there were enough older guys around to remind me of the double dealing and underhand practice of the then Labour Government. Some similarities with today perhaps. MOD's this is not allegedly it is from research and personal memories. The TSR 2 could do all the below and more.
TSR-2 The sad, sorry saga of the destruction of what could have become one of the great aircraft of the 1970s and 1980s The specification was very demanding and called for an aircraft capable of delivering a 6-ton sunshine package over a combat radius of 1500 miles at low level and at high subsonic speed. The RAF specification made it even more demanding by calling for an over the target speed of 1.3M together with the need for a inertial navigation / attack system to ensure pinpoint weapons delivery. F****** were developing the terrain following radar and navigation/attack system, E** was developing the sideways looking radar BAC provided some estimated performance figures and even today they make impressive reading. They included a cruising speed of 0.9M / 1.1M at sea level and 2.05M at altitude. Combat radius with external fuel would be 1500nms or 1000nms with a 2000lb internal bomb load on internal fuel only. Initial rate of climb would be around 50,000 feet per minute with a service ceiling of 60,000ft. In addition, the aircraft was designed to operate from semi-prepared or low-grade surfaces only 3000ft in length, The reconnaissance pack included the EMI Q-Band SLAR, a moving target indicator and active optical line scan radar, which could also transmit the picture in near real-time to a ground station, together with three FX126 cameras. One forward and two sideways looking F95 cameras were permanently fitted in the aircraft's nose. The SLAR could provide continuous coverage up to 10mn either side of track. Whilst development continued much skulduggery took place behind the scenes and by now the Labour opposition were making it clear they would cancel the project if they were elected. The end came on 6 Apr 65 when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, James Callaghan, announced during his budget speech that the project would be cancelled immediately. Not content with that, no trace of TSR-2 was supposed to survive orders were given for the two completed prototypes to be destroyed, together with all the remaining aircraft on the assembly line, even down to the jigs and tools - ensuring that the project could never be resurrected. The decision to cancel TSR-2 was probably one of the most ill advised ever made by a British Government and nearly crippled the British aircraft industry.
All that capability in the 50's FFS a tragic shame it was never built.
