BAC TSR.2
The BAC TSR.2 ( British Aircraft Corporation - Tactical Strike and Reconnaissance 2 ) was a British project for a supersonic reconnaissance aircraft and bomber to replace the English Electric Canberra in the 1960s.
description
The construction was very advanced for the time and included details such as Doppler radar , inertial navigation system , moving map map display and terrain following radar . Similar flight performance required the General Dynamics F-111, which was developed at the same time, of a significantly more complex design using swivel blades . The TSR.2 managed without this feature, but was still able to take off on short slopes of 600 meters in length.
Already on the first flight on September 27, 1964 from Boscombe Down airfield in the south of England, the prototype was able to easily meet or even exceed the high requirements. However, the following year (April 6, 1965), the project was abruptly abandoned after only two aircraft had been completed, as the British government believed that missiles would replace manned aircraft in the near future. After the agreement of Nassau with the US government in 1962, the Polaris rocket was a significantly more cost-effective variant for upgrading the British nuclear power. The remaining purposes were no longer sufficient justification for the high project costs. Instead, the purchase of some F-111s was considered, but ultimately this alternative was also discarded and the Blackburn Buccaneer procured.
Only three aircraft were built in total (XR219, XR220 and XR222). XR219 has been scrapped, XR220 can be viewed at RAF Cosford, Shropshire. XR222 is on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford , Cambridgeshire .
The Hawker Harrier remained the only major project in British military aircraft construction alongside multinational partnerships such as the SEPECAT Jaguar , the Panavia Tornado and the Eurofighter Typhoon .
Technical specifications
Parameter | Data |
---|---|
Type | Tactical supersonic bomber and reconnaissance aircraft |
crew | 2 |
length | 27.13 m |
span | 11.28 m |
Wing area | 65.03 m² |
Wing extension | 1.95 |
Wing loading |
|
height | 7.32 m |
Empty mass | 24,834 kg |
normal takeoff mass | 36,287 kg |
Max. Takeoff mass | 46,545 kg |
Top speed |
|
Service ceiling | 16,459 m |
Rate of climb | 267 m / s |
Use radius |
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Engines | two jet engines Bristol-Siddeley Olympus BOl.22R (Mk. 320) |
Thrust |
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Thrust-to-weight ratio |
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Armament
- internal: 1–2 × tactical atomic bombs, 6,454 kg bombs or 1 large fuel tank
- external: bomb load up to 2,722 kg, 4 × AS.30 - air-to-surface missiles or additional fuel tanks
See also
literature
- Air International. Key Publishing Ltd., April 2007.
Web links