A unique British aircraft design, destined to never enter service, the TSR2 would have been arguably the best tactical strike bomber ever built. The TSR2 design was even considered as a viable alternative option to the Tornado purchase in the 1980's!
The British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2 was to be the supersonic replacement for the Canberra and V-force bombers, with enhanced operational capability and updated avionics. The TSR-2 emerged as a large shoulder winged aircraft powered by two Bristol Siddely Olympus turbojets, which also powered the Avro Vulcan and later Concorde. On board was a digital computer, Ferranti forward looking radar, EMI side looking radar, Decca Doppler and Smiths air-data system. Processed data was fed though the pilots head up display, navigator's console and weapons fire control system. Twenty aircraft were ordered in 1963 as pre-production testbeds, with the first batch expected to be thirty production aircraft. Export orders were also anticipated from commonwealth countries.
The TSR-2 was the most advanced military aircraft of it's day, with Mach 2.25 performance, but cost and development time overruns began to accumulate. Making its maiden flight from Boscombe Down in September 1964 and the aircraft began to display its impressive capabilities. In 1965 a new Labour government was elected and the entire TSR2 project was cancelled.
Two aircraft remain, one at RAF Cosford and one at the RAF museum in Duxford. Incomplete airframes and construction jigs were destroyed.
The 'virtual RAF' - a look at the TSR-2, as it might have been!