"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message ...
"rb" wrote in message
...
KDR wrote:
While reading Eric Grove's "Vanguard to Trident" again, I found
something which may interest SMNers.

On page 44, Grove wrote:
"The ASW/fighter priority advised against putting too many scarce
resources into strike aircraft but, nevertheless, in mid-1948 studies
began of a new heavy attack aircraft with a range of perhaps two to
three thousand miles. Such a machine would give the Royal Navy the
same kind of nuclear attack capabilities as were being so assiduously
pursed by the United States Navy."

Anyone has any idea what type of aircraft it was?

closest I can find are the Canberra bomber almost fits the timeline ~
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Electric_Canberra
and somewhat later the TSR-2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAC_TSR-2

The nearest I can imagine is the 1954 Naval Staff Requirement NA.39
which called for a long range carrier aircraft capable of
making a nuclear strike and flying in under enemy radar.

The aircraft that grew from this specn was the Blackburn Buccaneer

In my original post that started this thread, I quoted page 98, which
is as follows.

"Not only did the Admiralty insist on keeping these two sophisticated
types (Sea Vixen and Scimitar), but it was actively pursuing once
again the concept of a nuclear-capable heavy attack aircraft. Some
kind of navalized variant of the RAF's Canberra bomber was considered,
and this led to a requirement, issued in June 1952, for a new jet
strike aircraft of much more advanced design and performance, the NA39
(Buccaneer)."

My understanding is that the nuclear-capable heavy attack aircraft
studied in 1948 was something entirely different, not a navalised
variant of the RAF Canberra, which appears to be considered in the
early 1950's. An Anglicized version of AJ Savage, perhaps?

Regards,