Vulcan's Hammer - Chris Gibson

At the height of the Cold War it was Britain's V-Force and its Valiant, Vulcan and Victor bombers that carried the UK's nuclear deterrent from the mid Fifties until the end of the Sixties. Their nuclear arsenal included not just freefall bombs but far more advanced weapons such as the Blue Steel stand-off missile. The protracted development of Blue Steel, described as the most complex vehicle ever built in Britain, has been well documented but less well-known is that Blue Steel was intended to form the basis of many extremely advanced projects, such as the Z.101 research aircraft. These projects would have given Britain the global lead in aerospace and weapons technology.Vulcan's Hammer describes the development of these advanced weapons and the aircraft that were intended to carry them. Placing these projects in the pollical and economic framework of post-war Britain, Vulcan's Hammer also examines the alternatives to the Vulcan, Victor and Valiant and outlines the aircraft that were to replace these types, such as the Avro Type 730, English Electric P.10 and Vickers SP.4. Supporting types such as the Bristol RA.6 reconnaissance and Avro unmanned vehicles and also described for the first time.Described here from a British perspective, the US Skybolt missile was seen as the saviour of the V-Force and as well as prompting a number of projects including the Vulcan Phase 6 and Handley Page HP.114 Victor developments, their limitations caused the Air Staff to look to civil airliners such as the VC10 to carry Skybolt on standing patrols while research into laminar flow control technology saw Handley Page's HP.117 high-efficiency flying-wing airliner studies proposed as a Skybolt carrier. The surprise cancellation of Skybolt also led to re-examination of the role of TSR.2.Vulcan's Hammer also considers Avro's Weapon Research Division's work on improving Blue Steel and its further development into a research type for Britain's aerospace industry, with the aim of providing hypersonic aircraft and satellite launchers taking the United Kingdom into a leading position in air and space technology.Illustrated with a myriad of photographs, general arrangement drawings and specially commissioned artwork, Vulcan's Hammer presents the story of an alternative V-Force.