Originally Posted by
ATC Watcher
Ian W :
Many hanks for that link , very good reference , but as far as I know ( I have no F6-Lightning experience but seen dozens of intercepts of more modern types on the Radar ) there is a huge difference in intercepting an aircraft at FL600 doing M.07 on a fixed track ( as a U2 would do ) and one doing Mach2 0 . I would even dare to say impossible , I do not know the exact on site endurance of the Lightning in Hot configuration ( i.e armed with no extra tanks) with reheat to get to his max speed M2.2. up to 65.000ft , but my guess is in single minutes, probably less than 5., and with a speed difference of M.02 not a chance unless you have a bloody good controller on the ground and good luck that the target will not change course while you climb up there.
Intercept at 36.000ft , it is already very limited : from wikipedia :
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I would say if a Concorde was ever intercepted by a F6 it was subsonic and at less than 30.000 ft.. So basically a non-event.
Well you are comparing an intercept at FL600 to a more likely intercept at FL350-400 over the SW approaches or the North Sea. Also though remember that Concorde was more constrained in its routing than the U2 so not so difficult to set up something. But yes it was not uncommon at Lightning units to have several Lightnings recovering with less than 10 minutes fuel. It kept everyone on their toes
Apologies for the thread drift