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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0517.PDF
IN the famous document "DEFENCE—Outline of Future'Policy" presented to Parliament in April 1957 no mention was made of any stand-off missile for the V-force of RAF Bomber Command. Instead, it was stated that these aircraft "should be supplemented by ballistic rockets." The first of these was the Douglas Thor, but our own "more advanced" missile, Blue Streak, was cancelled as a weapon in April 1960. Since that time numerous pressure groups have, for a variety of reasons, suggested that Britain should invest in Polaris submarines, mobile ballistic missiles and every other kind of delivery system. We cannot afford any of these things. Instead we are committing our resources to prolonging the effective life of the V-bombers by equipping them to carry and launch high-performance missiles. During 1962 Blue Steel, originally a private venture by A. V. Roe Ltd, will come into service with the Handley Page Victor B.2 and (left) the Avro Vulcan B.2. With this missile, says the Air Estimates 1962-63 Memoran dum "The V-bombers will be able to deliver their attack from outside defences concentrated around their targets." Three years later Vulcan B.2 squadrons will receive Douglas Skybolt air-launched ballistic missiles (aerodynamic replicas above). With Skybolt, it is claimed that "they will be able to attack from outside any enemy air defences."
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