A few useful points and observations from the TSR2 With Hindsight papers:
- A number of the writers thought that the aircraft suffered greatly from going to Mach 2 from the Mach 1.7 of the original EE design.
- The short/unprepared-runway requirement was also extremely expensive to meet. (When it was flying with the gear down it looked like an E-type with tractor tyres.)
- The description of the avionics system reminded me of what I had read about the F-111D's Mk2 avionics, which were also first-generation digital and did not work worth a toss. (The Es and Fs reverted to a lot of the F-111A kit.)
- Even if they all worked, the low-level blind bombing was not accurate enough to do much damage without recourse to Instant Sunshine, and nobody was planning to develop the required low-yield weapon.
But it was unquestionably an elegant aircraft, and it didn't take 20+ years either...