To respond to the various critics of my earlier post, yes, a pilot concentrating on wing sweep versus speed/mach could beat the automatics but a pilot concentrating on the fight and tactical situation as first priority frequently screws up the wingsweep setting and loses performance - even overstresses the wings. I know, I've flown both and I've watched pilots get it badly wrong.
The statement 'at least one accident' was quite correct - it was an unload at lowish altitude accompanied by an early selection of wings to 67 then a 'oh my God' pull to avoid the sea with the wings at 67 and the speed commensurate with 45/25 wing. The fact that the aircraft impacted the sea at a shallow angle low enough for the Nav to survive is a fair indication of the likelihood of recovery had the wings been at the best sweep angle. There are others I could quote from the bombers in Saudi where incorrect sweep angle was the cause of failure to recover from the dive once the error had been perceived.
For those aircrew who remain convinced of their ability to do better than automatic wing sweep - all they have to do to override it is to move the wing sweep lever. However, since the RAF did not accept it they do not have that option.