Tsr2, P1154
GBZ,
Happy to share what limited knowledge I have, though offered by others with a lot more 'gen who I won't name here...
TSR2, tiny wings and expected to overfly the target, which was a daft idea even in WWII, as the Tornado found out the hard way in Gulf War 1 ( jamming gear doesn't stop AAA, and god knows what a TSR2 would have been like at even medium, still vulnerable altitude ).
The P1154 was killed by inter-service politics, for example the R.N. insisting on two engines, which is hard work on a VSTOL aircraft !
I believe the Harrier was the right choice & way to go.
Plenum chamber burning ( the VSTOL equivalant of an afterburner ) did work, I was along for the trials in the 1980's, the major snag was that it couldn't be operated from grass or carriers due to the serious ' ground erosion '.
The supersonic Russian Yak 141 ' Freestyle ' successfully used PCB, and also had advanced controls similar to the VAAC Harrier & F-35B; it was researched by a few NATO Test Pilots, but scuppered by funds, as was the slightly earlier British P-1216 project.
The P-1216 could have possibly been a true world-beater for ' U.K. Ltd ' , complete with forward swept carbon fibre wings in one version - a full scale mock-up was made at Kingston, but funding was refused; culprit, M.Thatcher, who'd already had her political arse saved by the Harrier, now in peacetime she didn't fancy spending money, sod future citizens, technology & factories !
Before anyone jumps on me, I'm equally anti-labour, but it should be noted the 'tories were all for selling HMS Invincible to Australia in 1981, so hardly pro - defence as some would believe.
One good thing about the Pegasus engine on the Harrier is that while being a touch on the crude side, it has a ' high torque ' effect even at medium throttle, so the aircraft doesn''t mind going to high subsonic speeds even if carrying high drag stores; bearing in mind the problems of aiming & releasing stores at supersonic speeds, this seems a good solution to me.
Last edited by Double Zero; 3rd Aug 2009 at 15:16.