B-58 instead of TSR2 ?

[Leading Observer]

Looking forward to reading the back story,

[rickshaw]

If, I'm not mistake, the Carousel system was an emergency fit to the Vulcans involved in the BLACK BUCK raids and its a commercial system so that rather post-dates Blue Steel.  The Carousel INS uses IIRC three INSs, with agreement of any two of them ensuring that errors are prevented. 

[sandiegobrit]

The history of the B-58K Vigilant
part one
background

In the late 1950's both the RAF's future and the future of the British aviation industry was looking bleak. The Sandys report (1957) had all but destroyed all government funded manned aircraft research and development. The comet disasters loomed large in everyone's memories .Politicians took to calling the aviation industry 'a group of robber barons' and some even made ludicrous statements like "the aviation industry has wasted more money than the NHS has cost all for nothing" . Newspapers ran headlines showing the waste of money on projects like the Brabizon and the princess. This was made worse by  Successive failures of what designs were left.

The so called 'V"bomber force had been a farce, first the Valliant had suffered from stress problems in the wing spar, the Vulcan had been held back by the poor reliability and disastrous SFC of the Olympus, and the victor was so far behind schedule that it looked ready for cancellation.

The Vulcan was only saved by the decision to develop the b3/36 'super Vulcan' with extended fuel capacity, 'super-Conway' turbofans and extra bomb capacity in two large under wing panniers. To give the Vulcan improved atomic stand off capability the blue steel 2 mach 3 missile was to be developed with the French (to be built in France and carried by the mirage IV) and Australians (who were to buy 3 squadrons of 'super Vulcans').

The victor was re-purposed as a dedicated high speed tanker with the same 'super-Conway' engines as the Vulcan. It was fitted with a missile based self defense system and improved fuel storage. Both the Victor and Vulcan developments would not be in full service until the mid 60's and both were high altitude subsonic designs with little thought given to low level capability.

Adding to the woes was the fact that the Navy was pushing to become the nuclear standard bearer with what would become the Polaris missile system to be launched from nuclear subs. The RAF felt that if this was to happen then it's funding would be cut so drastically that it would no longer be able to maintain its capability to defend the realm.

In the 1958 defense review the RAF argued that a manned bomber was a better defense system for the UK on the grounds that it allowed for a flexible response (both tactical and strategic) where as Polaris was a Armageddon only weapon . RAF top brass also argued that Polaris was not a deterrent in the case of small tactical wars as only a madman would consider going to war over something small such as the invasion of some far away territory. One RAF officer put it this way 'a modern well equipped bomber force is like a surgeon with a scalpel, a Polaris missile is like a maniac with a hand grenade, which one would you prefer we use to remove a brain tumor?

After this the government gave the air ministry 6 months to come up with a solid plan to give the RAF a capability to be the effective nuclear deterrent or it would purchase Polaris and fund nuclear subs for the navy.

[sandiegobrit]

part 2
Development

The Air ministry knew it needed to do something quick or the RAF would become forever a second class force. Developing a native strategic bomber would be out of the question, the cost was too high, it would be too long in development and confidence in the British aircraft companies was very low .The super Vulcan's wouldn't be ready until mid to late 1960's and was believed to be of little use tactically as the aircraft was to big. So another option was needed that could be in service ASAP.

The best option was a foreign design modified as little as possible to RAF standards. Looking at what was on offer the choice was a two horse race the Convair B-58 hustler or Dassault mirage IV .

Now the very idea of the RAF flying a mirage stuck in the throat of many in the RAF and the ministry (even though it had a lot of merit ). The mirage 4 was thought to be too short on range and had no proven capability at low altitude. There were some who suggested that once a mirage had been accepted by the RAF that the government would try and force mirage IIIC fighters on the RAF as a replacement for the much loved lightning as a "cost savings exercise" and the idea of the fighter force being reliant on a single engined type didn't please fighter command at all. because of this swath of objections this option was quickly forgotten about.

A fact finding mission was sent to investigate the existing B-58 with a team touring from Washington D.C. to Fort Worth then San Diego. Production at that time was beginning and protoypes were performing initial flight trials and Convair jumped at the chance to add a further 100-150 airframes and negotiations with the british government team were begun. One of the initial doubts about the hustler was that it would not be able to operate at low level. this was soon dispensed with when a team of Convair test pilots flew a production prototype from the Fort Worth plant to the san Diego plant without the plane going above 500ft above the surrounding terrain and averaging 700mph for the entire journey.

DeHavilands was chosen as the UK company that would Anglicize the aircraft and provide long term support (with assistance from courtolds and ICI for the composite structure). Marconi and Plessey were charged with looking after avionics and radar modifications. The original plan was for the engines to be standard J-79's like all other Hustlers but Washington (at the time) would not allow an export license of such high tech engines to the UK (the DoD was still annoyed at Britain giving nenes to the Russians) Also London wanted to get as much British content on ant new program to appease the unions.
.
Rolls-Royce was asked if it could use the afterburning spey in the Hustler. After a prelim check it was decided that they could be made to fit with some modifications but the Rolls-Royce type of afterburner nozzle was incompatible with the nacelle so a new "turkey feather' type would be required. Solar turbines of San Diego were selected to sub-contract design and production of this new afterburner and nozzle.

As soon as the project began problems arose, firstly the RAF didn't like the idea of the ejection capsules that were to be used in the Hustler so Martin-Baker were asked to look at the design. They concluded that the overall design was good and in fact had a number of advantages over a more conventional 'open seat' system (one being that survivability in the sea was far better, something many RAF pilots came to learn at first hand). Martin-Baker set about improving the ejection capsule using technology developed for the AVRO 720 making the British version of the system into a true zero-zero system which was eventually retro-fitted into USAF Hustlers. One minor sounding but important change was the moving the throttle controls to within the pilots capsule to permit the full control of the plane while the capsule was closed (something that had caused at least one USAF plane to be lost).The seats were also modified so that if they were closed they could be opened again without the crew member needing to almost bend double as in the original capsule design.

Other major RAF requests included the deletion of the rear cannon, it was considered to be a pointless feature in the age of missiles and in its place it was requested that there be a flare/chaff dispenser and a more advanced missile detection system
Another issue that could have caused a further delay the service introduction was a requirement for the jet to be able to carry and launch 2 red-top/fire streak missiles as a form of self defense but this was dropped in favor of later introducing the shorts/hawker dynamics star-streak hypersonic reaction controlled kinetic missile system integrated into the weapons pod at a later date. This was eventually dropped after it was shown that B-52's had a poor history of using the sidewinder missile during combat missions over Vietnam and the weight of an air to air system on a bomber was a waste.


Three small but time consuming items arose when the plane was being adapted for RAF service
1/ It was proposed painting the aircraft in "anti-flash white" to avoid problems with corrosion and thermal problems from atomic weapons . Convair didn't think it was necessary as corrosion wasn't seen to be a problem with USAF planes where the RAF took the view that bare metal planes were not suitable for the British climate or as one RAF officer put it 'no paint is all right if your parking the bally thing in a desert, but last time I looked there aren't any deserts in Lincolnshire old boy"
2/ The first aircraft to be converted to B-58K standard was already fitted with a USAF style refueling receptacle in the nose and this had to be removed and covered over initialy a correct probe and drogue style refueling system was to be retro-fitted to the side of the cockpit between the pilot and navigator position but this was deleted so that the aircraft would be ready to fly ASAP.
3/ The name Hustler wasn't liked by the RAF and eventually the plane was renamed
B58-K "vigilant" in RAF service. Vigilant was picked to carry on the V bomber name convension. To its pilots it was more comonly referred to as the TARDIS, a reference to a BBC show where the hero traveled in a box that was smaller on the outside than the inside and could bend time and space .RAF pilots said the B-58K was just like it except the B-58 was smaller on the inside than on the outside!

Problems were encountered with the  US government (of the time) and it's tendency to not allow transfer of very sensitive data to foreign powers. This lead to the ban on selling the computerized navigation system, jamming suite and bombing radar normally fitted to hustlers. This meant that Plessey and Marconi and Decca were charged with developing a system to fit the existing airframe and duplicate the functionality of the original system. certainly a gargantuan task. They did have a bit of a head start, though together they had already been working on a radar/nav/avionics package for a replacement to the Canberra , but with the cancellation of these projects in the Sandy's report it had left them with an excellent semi-digital SLR, navigation and avionics suite with no airframe to call home.

This integrated system was given the code name "Blue Bustard" (though more commonly pronounced 'damm fuzzy bunny' and it turned out to be a technological marvel. It was the first system that used digital navigation/flight control systems to significantly reduce pilot/navigator workload.
A couple of interesting features were that The pilot used a small TV display for all engine data (this was augmented by the addition of TV cameras to allow the pilot to see the individual engines in flight). The Navigator had a rolling map display similar to the attack/nav system like the system that was later used in the jaguar augmented by terrain following radar.


Pilot selection and training was taken very seriously because of the experience gathered from the machines entering USAF service from 1961 onward had shown the aircraft was tricky to fly. Lightning pilots were considered the best candidates as they were used to making high speed landings and tended to be small in stature (something required by the size of the ejection capsule).BAC built 2 lightning trainers modified with a B58 type cockpit and ejection capsule and modified 2 Canberra bombers with the navigator/defense systems positions behind the pilot to allow "back-seat" crew training. A further 3 of each plane were converted and dispatched to the operational squadrons so that crew could be trained on them while converting from older types

Engine integration went surprisingly smoothly and the first fully RAF spec plane flew from the Convair plant in San Diego on march 8th 1963 and was delivered to Boscombe Down for evaluation the next month .this flight went via New York and set a new world record for a New York-London crossing on the way (a record that was never recognized or published at the time as the plane was still technically classified secret).

One operating problem that was discovered during acceptance trials was that the undercarriage was highly stressed (particularly the nose leg) Dowty-Rotol took it on themselves to design an improved undercarriage utilizing their .This was first retrofitted into the first B-58's delivered and then introduced on all new B58-K's from mid 1964 onward.

A very good feature that almost made up for all the initial problems were the Spey engines. Fact was that they had a far better SFC than the J-79 giving the plane vastly improved range. It was said (during the development of the A-7 corsair 2) that the spey had a SFC figure one sixth of the J-79 at 11000 pounds thrust! This was utilized  in service in a most dramatic way, because the more powerful turbofan engines producing 14200 pounds of dry thrust allowed the aircraft to 'super-cruse' at mach 1.4 without afterburners and had a max thrust with afterburners at full of 21000 pounds of thrust compared to 17500 pounds of thrust with full afterburners from the J-79 .

The spey also had a  copious supply of bleed air available that was used in 3 ways
1/ The leading edge could be heated to prevent icing at low temps while flying subsonic or at very low levels over northern Europe.
2/ The same system could be used to help cool the leading edge while flying at supersonic speeds.
3/ the bleed air was used to produce an artificial vortex over the top of the wing while in low speed flight that helped improve its low speed stability and landing speed

These improvements along with minor changes to the intake profile and the programming of the semi-digital engine controls/adjustable intake spike allowed the RAF to lift the hustlers max speed to mach 2.5 at 70,000 feet.

Other engine improvements included the introduction of composite blades and stators in the bypass fan section of the engine that reduced rotating mass and improved engine response as well as improved turbine blade cooling that helped reduce engine maintenance time and operating costs

Initially armament was to be 2 red-beard free fall nuclear bombs stored in the twin pod system for the bomber mission and a single combined reconnaissance/fuel pod like USAF hustlers .

later in its life the B-58K would switch to two simple wet pods and a pair of sky-hammer air launched ballistic missiles .This was a smaller version of the original skybolt missile that had been developed by hawker dynamics  after the American government had handed the whole project to the British in 1962. as an extension of the planes capability 4 B43 atomic bombs could be carried (two either side of the pod) these were supplied under a 'dual key' agreement with the USAF and were for NATO use only.

To allow a more 'flexible response' MOD planners requested the B-58 be able to be armed with conventional weapons so it was decided its load out should include 4x martel anti ship missiles or 12 1000lbs conventional free fall bombs mounted on the two bomb racks either side of the centre pod.

[sandiegobrit]

part 3
Initial service

The first prototype was to later be converted to carry a single Olympus engine in place of the centerline pod in as a test vehicle for the Concorde project. It allowed supersonic testing of both the Olympus engine and the variable geometry intake system used for the Concorde. This particular aircraft had another unique feature over-wing fuel tanks similar to those fitted on some lightning fighters .This feature was needed to supplement the internal fuel storage and to replace the fuel normally stored in the centerline tanks.

5 squadrons being formed to operate the B-58
they were :
7 squadron
50 squadron
617 squadron 'the dam busters'
633 squadron 'the mystics' a new dedicated squadron
641 squadron 'the atom smashers' a new dedicated squadron
Initially the aircraft was considered to have quite a high loss rate but actual crew losses were few due to the escape system and this was reduced by better training and better more stable engines becoming available from R-R (early spey's has a nasty habit of surging and flaming out during landing if the aircraft entered turbulent air from another aircraft).

The B-58K was an instant hit with the public and stared at many air shows in the late 60's with it's signature ear splitting afterburner low pass.

[sandiegobrit]

part 4
mid life update

By the late 1960's the USAF were beginning to phase out the B-58 because of cost issues and replace it with the F-111. The RAF saw this as a opportunity to expand its fleet and replace those lost to attrition while in service. Hawkers acquired 100 ex USAF airframes with the plans to convert then to an 'enhanced B-58K' standard. the project was given a massive boost when it was revealed that Australia was negotiating to purchase 50 airframes after it cancelled its order for f-111's over cost and schedule overruns.

One option that was considered at this stage was replacing the 4 engines with a pair of afterburning Olympus engines (Rolls-Royce having taken over Bristol's in 1966 and together they had fixed the Olympus for the Concorde program) this would have necessitated a massive change in the airframe stresses and engine control systems. 4 non-afterburning medway2's (details of this engine are available on request) were considered a better option due to less of an airframe change and a lower operating cost.

Replacement of the existing avionics, radar and bombing systems with a new integrated digital system using true digital 8 bit computers. The DSO station was completely removed and its space filled with a automated defense system controlled by the navigator.

Smaller but still important changes included improved crew sanitation systems for long missions and further improvements to the ejection capsule system to improve crew comfort and reduce fatigue. Concorde style mini canards were fitted as a means of further enhancing low speed, high alpha handeling.

adding new weapons to the list of conventional stores that could be carried. this included HARM anti radar missiles, sea eagle anti-ship missiles and what  would become the JP-233 anti runway system. For the nuclear role the older red beards were replaced with 4 externally mounted WE177 bombs allowing the use of the centerline twin tanks to improve range

One interesting fact that arose was that the removed J-79's that had been removed were sold to F-104 operators such as West Germany and Italy and helped offset the cost of the upgrade work .

Eventually all RAF B-58K's were to go through this update program and the lifespan of the older planes were extended considerably. This was all done while reducing operating costs.

[sandiegobrit]

part 5
Later service

As the planes were rotated through the update program it was decided that 4 aircraft would be re-directed to experimental work with the RAE, 2 planes were sent to Boscombe down 1 to Farnbough to join the RAE's engine test aircraft described earlier  and the last to Bedford. The Boscombe aircraft were instrumental in developing the starbird anti satellite system that used a modified Sky bolt missile as the launch stage and a new orbital interceptor to allow the interception of hostile satellites and the launching of small expendable mini-sats

The high point of this types service was during the Falklands conflict when 12 aircraft from 633 squadron delivered a series of  embarrassing and crucial blows to the argentine military. The missions included bombing the runway at Port Stanly and destroying the radars and runways of 4 argentine air force bases on the mainland as well as sinking the argentine carrier while in port without the loss of a single aircraft. During one mission the B-58K's managed to evade at least 6 Argentinean mirage IIIc fighters and succeeded in destroying the entire Argentinean stockpile of exocet missiles along with a number of planes on the ground.

The final and in some ways most embarrassing mission was when three B-58K's bombed the presidential palace with propaganda leaflets during a press conference by president Galtieri , Showing the whole world that the RAF ruled the skies over the Argentine capital. This group of planes according to the nose art shown on the BBC were 'the shopkeepers daughter' the 'iron lady' and the 'marvelous Maggie'

[sandiegobrit]

so that's it ! I have based it on the idea that a postwar nation driven by power hungry politicians use the aviation industry as a scapegoat for the nations ill's. In no way is it meant to criticize the fine men and women of the industry in any way shape or form.
Ok some of the dates may be a bit wrong but i hope you all enjoy reading and anything you can add to it would be appreciated 
Steve P

[Maverick]

Brilliant stuff Steve!

I've done a couple of RAF Hustler profiles, but, with your permission, I might revisit these when I get my B-58 blank up & running again.

Regards,

Mav

[NARSES2]

Great read 

[TallEng]

Impressive backstory

Regards
Keith

[Hobbes]

Excellent backstory, love the idea of dropping propaganda during Galtieri's speech. 

[Alvis 3.14159]

Fantastic story! I loved the names of the three pamphlet droppers!


Alvis Pi

[NARSES2]

Fantastic story! I loved the names of the three pamphlet droppers!


Alvis Pi

Yup 

[sandiegobrit]

thanks for all the encouragement guys
maverick--please do I would love to see some profiles based on this idea, might help me decide on the color scheme for my model
Steve P