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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1731.PDF
FLIGHT, 7 December 1956 895 Guided Missiles 1956 ... Great Britain—continued) production soon, has been abandoned because: defence chiefs decidedit was too complicated and ambitious; it would have cost too much to produce in view of the economy drive; the money and man-powerwas needed for ... the long-range rocket with the H-bomb warhead. The weapon was being developed for the Supply Ministry by Vickers-Armstrongs. An alternative and much simpler air-to-air weapon is being produced. . . ." In fact, the position is not quite as described. The Vickers AAMwas cancelled not because it was "ambitious" but because the aircraft which would have carried it was also cancelled. SURFACE-TO-AIR Armstrong Whitworth. As the chief missile firm of the HawkerSiddeley Group, Armstrong Whitworth should be powerful and experi- enced. They were one of the first firms to establish both a design teamand a research and development plant in South Australia and it was recently announced that approximately £lm would be invested in anextension to the facility at Whitley, Coventry, to make it "one of the largest concentrations of aircraft and missile research and design facilitiesin Britain." Officially, all that can be said is that A.W. are responsible for a navalanti-aircraft weapon, but more has been reported unofficially. In a Continental journal early last year, for example, it was announced that"Sperry Gyroscope Co. produces the guidance system for an Armstrong Whitworth ship-to-air missile powered by an Armstrong Siddeley 1— 1 *—. !1 1%^— / \ V E Armstrong Whitworth. Test vehicle, presumably similar in essentials to the company's naval SAM. Internal sustainer plus four sets of triple wrap-round boost motors. Approximate length, 20ft; body diameter, about 16in. Bristol RJTV. Ramjet test vehicle, presumably similar in essentials to the com- pany's SAM. Twin ramjets plus four sets of wrap-round boost motors. Overall length, probably well over 20ft. This drawing is provisional and approximate. English Electric. SAM with four pairs of wrap-round boost motors and liquid-propellant sustainer Overall length, about 20ft; wing span, about 4ft 6in. GPV. General-purpose test-vehicle with four pairs of wrap-round boost motor' and liquid-propellant sustainer. Typical dimensions: overall length, 25ft; span 5ft 1±in; body diameter, 17^in. ' Napier/N.G.T.E. RJTV. Test vehicle for ramjet development. Integral ramjet plus four pairs of wrap-round boost motors. Overall length, about 20ft; no wings; body diameter, about 18in. • motor. . . . Armstrong Whitworth are building a ship-to-air missilewith four sets of wrap-round booster motors. Following extensive trials at Woomera, the type will go into production soon. The Admiraltyreveals that it will test such a weapon on the guided-weapon ship Girdleness next year." In the same year a British newspaper claimed that "a second Britishmissile . . . nearing production is the A.W./Sperry Gyroscope Co. naval anti-aircraft rocket. This rocket was tested both at Woomera and,on a small scale, at sea off Aberporth in 1954. This rocket is one of several which will be used on the special guided-missile ships describedin the Naval Estimates." The range was given as "20 miles or so." Finally, only last October, a British financial journal referred to"the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth-General Electric team, whose shipborne guided missile is now being tested on H.M.S. Girdleness."In the same month an A.W. test vehicle, seeming to fit the above descrip- tions, was publicly fired from the Clausen Rolling Platform—a navalresearch facility—at Aberporth. The firing was reported in our issue of November 2. Bristol. It was in the summer of 1949 that the Bristol AeroplaneCompany were allowed to state that both their Aircraft and Engine divisions were "to be engaged in the field of guided weapons." InFebruary 1951 it was stated that "certain defence projects" would be accelerated by a technical agreement with the Boeing Airplane Co.,and the following year photographs were released of a supersonic test vehicle for twin 6in ramjets. Today Bristol Aircraft and Bristol Aero-Engines are heavily com-mitted to the development of missiles and missile powcrplants. In 1954 it was suggested in the U.S.A. that, in view of the tie-up withBoeing, a weapon like Bomarc (page 899) might result. Five months ago, indeed, a Continental report stated that the outcome would be asurface-to-air weapon capable of over Mach 1.5 and designed for use against supersonic aircraft. This seems quite logical. Earlier this year the existence was madeknown of the Thor supersonic 16in ramjet, and it was then stated that an engine of this size could, at Mach 3 at sea level, develop a thrustequivalent to 90,000 thrust-h.p. It was stated that this unit was "mated with a pre-production missile"—which must clearly be of the SAMvariety, a type of missile which Bristol are engaged in producing— and the accompanying sketch shows an approximation to a test vehiclefired publicly two months ago. The ramjet itself has been established as ready for service. Early last year a British financial journal commented on the develop-ment of British ramjet anti-aircraft weapons "capable of 1,200 to 3,000 m.p.h. for 100 miles or more." At the S.B.A.C. Show thisyear Bristol shared a missile-development stand with Ferranti. English Electric. It has frequently been pointed out that thisindustrial giant is unique, among British firms at least, in being capable of handling virtually a whole guided-weapon programme within its ownresources. Apart from the massive experience of the parent firm in supersonics, advanced structures and general "systems" knowledge,there are the specialist abilities of the sister-firms of Napier (propulsion) and Marconi (guidance). Missile work is centred north of London,the main research centre being at Luton, Beds, and development resources being in the new production plant at Stevenage, Herts. Thereis, in addition, a strong and well-equipped trials team at Woomera. For several years English Electric have been associated with surface-launched anti-aircraft missiles. Early last year a British report averred that "a number of guided missiles are nearing the production stage.One of these is the radar-controlled English Electric A.A. guided missile which can be fired from the ground to heights exceeding 50,000ft, andwhich can manoeuvre and travel towards its target at speeds exceeding 2,000 m.p.h." Also in 1955 it was stated that the weapon would"have a main rocket and four sets of twin overlapping boosters." Notes on missile models exhibited in September by the company werepublished on September 14. One of these models is depicted in the adjacent sketch. A development English Electric SAM is the subjectof the photograph on page 885. A very similar weapon was fired publicly two months ago, as we related on November 2. SURFACE-TO-SURFACE Bombardment Missiles. Very little has been said officially of ourwork in this vital field, apart from the fact that "intensive ballistic- missile research is in progress" and that "particular emphasis is beingplaced on the ballistic rocket as a deterrent to aggression." An announcement from Washington earlier this year referred tothe "Air Force, Army/Navy and British programmes" for an inter- mediate-range weapon (IRBM) and announced that the large liquid-pTopellant rocket motor which Rolls-Royce, Ltd., are to make under licence from North American's Rocketdyne Division, would be usedin the British missile. In October a British newspaper stated that "work on Britain's firstbombardment missile is now being given top priority, and the first, it is hoped, will be in production by 1960. The rocket motors for thiswill have a thrust exceeding 100,000 lb." The same report averred that "the English Electric Company . . . has teams working ... ona ballistic missile." TEST VEHICLES Although not intended for production, the various test vehiclesdeveloped to support the British guided-weapons programme are closely akin to actual weapons. The following brief notes refer to the mostcommon types. RTV-1. Airframe by Marston Excelsior, propulsion by ArmstrongWhitworth. Used for fundamental research into control and guidance systems. Fixed cruciform wings; rear cruciform controls of rectangularplan-form; tandem boost with multiple barrels in one casing; sustainer running on liquid oxygen and kerosine fed by pistons moved by gaspressure from a slow-burning charge. Overall length, 15ft lOin; body diameter, lOin.
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