Originally Posted by
Martin the Martian
I never could work out what Concorde could achieve that a fleet of Tornados, Buccaneers, Jaguars and Harriers couldn't. Or, for that matter, a SSBN.
Range would come to mind. Remove the passenger cabin and most of the comfort devices, add a few extra internals tanks and all the sudden you have a supersonic aircraft capable of much, much longer missions than any of the one you mentioned. Remember also that Concorde was altitude and hence performance limited by regulatory limits (ie FL600 max). A "militarized" version could conceivably do M2.3-2.5 @ Fl700+
(edited) for say 5-6000nm. Now was there an actual use for such an aircraft is another story altogether ?