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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1211.PDF
FLIGHT, 31 August 1961 313 by the moving wings mounted on each side of the body. Bloodhound Mk 1, with pulse- type target-illuminating radar, equips Air Defence Missile Squadrons of Fighter Command, as described in our issues of November 7, 1958, and October 23, 1959. Evaluation orders have been placed by Sweden and Australia. Bloodhound Mk 2 has a continuous-wave radar which makes the weapon effective at greater ranges against targets down to ground level, and increased propulsive power and other changes confer a great increase in per- formance. Bloodhound 2 is in production for the RAF, and has been adopted as a standard weapon by both Sweden and Switzerland after an evaluation of all available material. The value of these export orders is roughly £35m. THE DE HAVILLAND AIRCRAFT CO LTD Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Telephone: Hatfield2300 Blue Streak Originally planned as a ballistic missile of some 2,500 miles range, this great vehicle has since April 1960 been under development as the first stage of a three-stage satellite-launcher, which it is suggested should be developed jointly by the major European nations together with Australia. Assembled at the D.H. Aircraft factory at Stevenage, Blue Streak has a balloon-type tank bay, fabricated by precision-welding thin stainless-steel sheet, accommodating 60.8 long tons of liquid oxygen and 26.3 tons of kerosine. At the lower end is attached a propulsion bay containing two gimballed Rolls-Royce RZ.2 engines, each with a thrust at sea level of 137,0001b (150,0001b in an uprated version). Liftoff weight of Blue Streak varies between 207,000 and 211,0001b, the complete three-stage satellite launcher weighing approximately 231,0001b. A full description appeared in Flight for August 17. Firestreak This infra-red homing missile is the standard air-to-air weapon of all intercepter squadrons of the RAF and Royal Navy. The Lightning carries two missiles, and the Javelin and Sea Vixen four. Described in Flight for March 11, 1960, Firestreak has a stabilized infra-red seeker cell behind the pointed glass nose, which detects the heat radiated behind the target's engines. The missile can be fired on a pursuit course from anywhere behind the enemy aircraft, and D.H. state that radiation from the Sun and cloud background has little effect on the guidance system, and that countermeasures are unlikely to be effective. The rear-mounted control surfaces are actuated by wires coupled to pneumatic rams ahead of the wings; the warhead is at the rear, surrounding the motor tube. Red Top Unveiled at the Paris Salon in June, this successor to Firestreak is "designed to intercept and destroy the latest types of enemy aircraft over a very wide altitude and speed range." Heat-homing guidance is retained in a developed form, and de Havilland are collaborating with the French Societe Matra on both this system and semi-active radar guidance. The larger motor gives Red Top extremely high performance, and the increased span of the wings and tail controls improves manoeuvrability at all altitudes. Unlike Firestreak, the new missile follows a collision course to its target from any direction—from dead ahead, if need be. Internal re-arrangement results in the control system being centra- lized at the rear and the warhead being ahead of the wings. ENGLISH ELECTRIC AVIATION LTD (GW Division) Six Hills Way, Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Telephone: Stevenage 940 Blue Water Britain's first ground-to-ground bombardment missile, Blue Water is under development for the British Army, and also fits a prime NATO requirement better than any other weapon. The missile itself is 25ft long, carries a large conventional or nuclear warhead, has propulsion by a precisely controllable solid motor, and pin-point inertial guidance which controls the trajectory by means of the four 81in-span moving wings. The missile is transported fully assembled on a standard 3-ton truck, which in addition to the missile and launcher also carries complete test facilities and a platform for monitoring and launching. Target computations are performed by an electronic computer carried on a Land Rover. To engage a target, the launcher and Land Rover need be at the launch posi- tion for only a few minutes (6min has been publicly demonstrated) and the missile is ele- vated to the firing position only during the last few seconds. Targets can be engaged at any range up to more than 60 miles, and the fire unit will have moved on to a different location by the time the warhead impacts. Thunderbird Standard anti-aircraft guided weapon of the British Army, Thunderbird Mk 1 equips regiments of the Royal Artillery. Designed for rapid deployment in completely unprepared locations in any type of terrain, Thunderbird has a solid-propellant motor and semi-active homing radar guidance, as described in Flight for September 25, 1959. Thun- derbird Mk 2 is a more advanced weapon system, fully air-portable, with new radars and launcher and a missile of greatly increased performance guided by continuous-wave radar effective down to ground level. de Havilland Firestreaks in the ready-for-use store at RAF Station Coltishall de Havilland Red Top de Havilland Blue Streak in static test tower
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