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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 2460.PDF
FLIGHT, 25 September 1959 295 A FULLY MOBILE SURFACE-TO-AIR WEAPON SYSTEM FOR THE BRITISH ARMY THUNDERBIRD BY 1948 it was clear that, if Britain was to retain her place inworld aviation and be adequately defended, a new industrywould have to be created—a missile industry. Major air- craft and engineering firms were chosen by the government to receive development contracts for a number of defensive guided- weapon projects, and in October 1948 the Ministry of Supply decided to place a major G.W. contract with English Electric as soon as that company had a team of scientists ready to accept such a task. Thus were the early arrangements made for the incubation and hatching of Thunderbird. Their assignment was described as "the development of a ground-to-air guided missile," and the first step a study contract under which English Electric would examine the entire problem and make suggestions for suitable hardware. It was understood from the outset that the company would, if its studies showed that an efficient weapon was feasible, have responsibility for its development—and, in all probability, its manufacture in quantity for the Services. Planning the embryo of the company's now very extensive Guided Weapons Division began some months before the formal issue of the study contract. Mr. L. H. Bedford, who was then working at the Marconi research laboratories at Great Baddow, Essex, was appointed to take charge of the new Division. The first plan was to form the division close to English Electric's vast works at Stafford by taking over a nearby R.A.F. maintenance unit which was being run down; but the M.U. was given a new lease of life in the R.A.F. re-equipment programme which was then beginning, and plans had to be re-drafted. From Stafford the egg of the Thunderbird was taken to Luton, Beds, where D. Napier & Son, a member of the English Electric Group, had a major works. So here, early in 1949, a Seco-type hut was purchased from the Ministry of Works and erected within the Napier perimeter at Luton airport. The cost: £3,400. This was the beginning of what is now the largest guided-weapon factory in Europe and which today, 11 years later, is still expanding. These preparations meant that when the Design Study Contract was subsequently issued by the Ministry of Supply the company was ready to begin real work on it immediately. The contract called for "study and experiment in collaboration with the Director, Royal Aircraft Establishment ... of the main and ancillary problems of a ground-to-air guided weapon" which was to be capable of "efficiently defeating single or mass attacks" by bombers of the future. It called, too, for a comprehensive review of the techniques involved, and detailed recommendations on the shape, size, propulsion, guidance and control of the weapon. Payment for die contract was on a basis of costs, including over- heads, plus a small percentage profit, and the maximum figure was to be £100,000 "except with the prior written approval of the Director of Contracts." All these arrangements were made under the closest security restrictions. The organization was not even called the Guided Weapons Division, but sheltered under the pseudonym of Naviga- tional Projects Division. The project itself was initially given the Ministry code name of Red Heathen, but this later became Red Shoes. The company interpreted the contract to mean that it should not merely produce a design which would meet a particular requirement, but that it should be concerned as closely as possible with the ultimate performance of the weapon in Service hands. This consideration has always been paramount in English Electric's mind throughout the development of the entire weapon system. The period devoted to the design study was an extremely busy one for the small team of engineers which Mr. Bedford assembled at Luton. Seventy technical reports were issued in twelve months, many of them over the names of Mr. Bedford, Dr. E. K. Sande- man, Dr. R. W. Williams, L. J. Ward and J. Cattenach and J. M. Noble and M. Dowlen also contributed considerably to these studies. The first subject to be studied was the radar aspect of die system and the homing method. The main consideration was given to active and semi-active homing, and it soon became clear that the latter had the better range potential. The final recom- mendation was for a semi-active homing system. To study homing trajectories the study team devised a particularly successful simu- lator system, and this work was closely linked to that on the control system for the missile. Among general problems of missile design the choice of propul- sion was a prime consideration and rocket, ramjet and turbojet propulsion was investigated. The study teams felt that super- sonic ramjet and turbojet systems were not sufficiently advanced for either to be used as the basis of a programme. The only alternative was the rocket motor which, in the study team's opinion, also allowed the use of more attractive propellants than those consumed by the alternative types of power. In particular, an eye was kept on solid-rocket technology, which was even then beginning to show promise of superiority in specific impulse over the liquids. However, the availability of suitable solid fuels was doubtful, and it was decided to start off with a liquid-fuel rocket—a decision which also allowed the team to examine the behaviour of variable-thrust motors. The prob- lems of missile design were dealt with jointly by the Guided Weapons Division and by a Napier team which did a great deal of die detail work (Napier were at diis time actively concerned with liquid rocket motors, which eventually led to the single, double and triple Scorpion aircraft engines.) At this stage it was envisaged that the missile would have four separate control fins. All these conclusions were included in the design study report which was submitted to the M.o.S. This document stressed the importance of getting both small-scale And full-scale trial rounds into the air at the earliest possible moment. Here again English Electric were showing their anxiety to get a usable weapon into the hands of the Services. Five months later the development contract for Red Shoes was received. The details of this were based on the conclusions of the company's study report, and made English Electric respon- sible for the whole weapon system, except for the ground radars, fuze and warhead. Within a month of the contract the first small- scale missile firing took place at Larkhill, Wilts. This was the first of a provisional programme which called for many similar firings to check the basic aerodynamic design. The use of small- scale missiles, boosted to high speed but without actuators to move the control fins, reduced the cost per round very substan- tially, and facilitated the measurement of aerodynamic constants. At this time the whole project was fairly evenly shared between English Electric and Napier. It was appreciated that such a divi- sion of responsibility would not be satisfactory as the magnitude of the programme grew. It was therefore decided that much of the Napier responsibility should be taken over by the parent company, and more than 30 designers and technicians were trans- ferred from Napier to English Electric during 1951. This administrative reorganisation was greatly helped by the fact that Sir Conrad Coiner, a director of Napier, had in December 1949 Continued on p. 298, after double-page drawing of Thunderbird)
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