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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0060.PDF
M FLIGHT International, 10 January 1963 Missiles and Spaceflight THE GAP BEFORE POLARIS In the absence of Skybolt, it is abundantly clear that no existing or planned British delivery system for the nuclear deterrent will be capable of penetrating a well-defended territory between 1964 (or thereabouts; and the entry to service of the first of HM sub marines carrying Polaris missiles at the end of the decade. In recent weeks the same thought has probably been one of the chief worries of the Minister of Defence, Mr Peter Thorneycroft, and he recently suggested that British industry might be given the chance to produce an improved delivery system to bridge the gap. He made this suggestion on January 1 to a deputation of 13 Con servative Members of Parliament. After their 90min discussion, a statement was issued which reads, in part, as follows: "Mr Thorney croft emphasized the importance which the Government attached to keeping, building and maintaining for the United Kingdom an indestructible power of retaliation against any threat of nuclear attack. This independent power of retaliation rested today upon the V-bomber force, equipped with free-falling bombs and with Blue Steel. "It had been planned to reinforce this with Skybolt, but in view of the American decision to cancel Skybolt the United States had agreed to provide Polaris missiles with British-manu factured warheads for installation in British submarines. British technical and naval teams were being sent to America to work out arrangements for the delivery of these missiles. "Mr Thorneycrofl recognized that . . . action would need to be taken to strengthen the deterrent capacity of the V-bomber force in the period before Polaris was in operation [with the Royal Navy —Ed]. The production of Vulcan 2 bombers was being completed according to plan. Steps would be taken in consultation with the appropriate Government departments and British industry to strengthen the capacity of the British-manufactured deterrent during this period." The Minister also stated that the proposal to subscribe to NATO some part of the British deterrent forces already in existence "had been under examination by the Government for some time, and was put forward by the United Kingdom at Nassau as a practical contribution to the cause of European defence." Afterwards, Sir Arthur Vere Harvey, chairman of the Conserva tive defence committee and leader of the deputation, said, "I feel satisfied, from what Mr Thorneycroft told us, that we have the absolute right to use this weapon [Polaris—Ed] as the Govern ment thinks fit—that is, to take it out of NATO [at a time of ex treme national emergency—Ed] and that it will be feasible and prac ticable to do so." From his point of view the gist of the discussion had been the "gap" before Polaris was ready in about 1970. But it was now clear that action would be taken to strengthen the deter rent capacity of the RAF V-force. "It means we will have some thing better than Blue Steel," said Sir Arthur. "It will be a weapon of greater capacity with a bigger range than Blue Steel." It would appear logical for the Weapons Research Division of A. V. Roe to be charged with the task of developing such an im proved missile, as this journal suggested in two recent issues. This appears to be the conclusion of the stock market, for Hawker Siddeley shares jumped from 24s to 26s on January 2. As noted on the'right, the'M-SO Honest John has now largely replaced the earlier M-31 pattern in the armies of Western Europe. The improved missile is seen in this photograph n ounted on its nr.obile launcher Photograph secured during the recent firing by United Technology Center of the advanced glass-fibre rocket engine described in an accompanying news-item NEW UTC MOTOR FIRED An advanced, lightweight glass-fibre-cased rocket engine with un conventional cooling and throttling systems has demonstrated exceptional durability in a 20min static firing test at United Tech nology Center, Sunnyvale, California. The 951b, 30in-long engine was operated at 4,0001b thrust for l,147sec. Thrust-chamber tem perature was approximately 5,000°F, "hot enough to melt the toughest of metals." UTC claim that, upon examination after ward, "engineers found that the engine could have been fired for another full five minutes." Instead of having a standard liquid cooling jacket, the engine depended upon the technique of ablation cooling. In this process, the engine automatically expels heat which otherwise could burn through the combustion-chamber walls and destroy it. An ablative plastic liner slowly melts, absorbs the heat, and is ejected with the exhaust gases. Principal advantage of ablation cooling is that it eliminates the need for heavy, bulky coolant tubing. UTC scientists feel that the unusually long life of the engine, however, was due to the throttling system, which employs an "aera tion" concept recently perfected by UTC. It was this throttle that held the engine at the 4,0001b thrust rating, although it is capable of levels up to 16,0001b. Extensive previous testing by UTC has de monstrated that aeration-throttled engines have longer lives, because they operate, in effect, more smoothly, and are not subject to the harmful conditions of unstable combustion. The engine was punished by being fired in four bursts of 10, 30, 702 and 405sec—in-between each of which the engine was allowed to cool. Applications for an engine of the type tested by UTC include lunar landing craft and various upper-stage vehicles designed for use in space. Formerly a subsidiary of United Aircraft Corpora tion, UTC (until last month known as United Technology Cor poration) is now a full operating division of UAC. Improved Honest John Illustrated in an accompanying photo graph, the improved M-50 Honest John has now almost completely replaced the earlier M-31 in the NATO Land Forces Central Europe These forces include the 1st British Corps. M-50 has a much larger warhead than earlier models, despite a reduction in firing weight from 5,980 to approximately 4,9001b. The improved missile in corporates the XM31E1 motor produced at Radford Arsenal has a new spin system, larger and more effective designs of warhead, reduced dimensions (overall length 25ft instead of 27ft 9in and fin span 4ft 6in instead of 9ft 1 in), and increased range and accuracy. Major industrial contractor is Douglas Aircraft, whose M-50 work ,s centred at the Charlotte, North Carolina, and Torrance, California, factories.
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