The English Electric Thunderbird was a British
surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
produced for the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. Thunderbird was primarily intended to attack higher altitude targets at ranges up to approximately , providing wide-area air defence for the Army in the field.
AA gun
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
s were still used for lower altitude threats. Thunderbird entered service in 1959 and underwent a major mid-life upgrade to Thunderbird 2 in 1966, before being slowly phased out by 1977. Ex-Army Thunderbirds were also operated by the
Royal Saudi Air Force
The Royal Saudi Air Force ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْجَوِّيَّةُ الْمَلَكِيَّةْ ٱلسُّعُوْدِيَّة, Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Malakiyah as-Su’udiyah) (RSAF) is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabia ...
after 1967.
Thunderbird had performance similar to other semi-portable missiles like the US
MIM-23 Hawk
The Raytheon MIM-23 HAWK ("Homing all the way killer") is an American medium-range surface-to-air missile. It was designed to be a much more mobile counterpart to the MIM-14 Nike Hercules, trading off range and altitude capability for a much sm ...
and fully mobile Soviet
2K11 Krug, although it pre-dates both of these systems. After its mid-life upgrades, which shared several components with the
RAF's Bristol Bloodhound
The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of f ...
, Thunderbird featured a
continuous-wave radar
Continuous-wave radar (CW radar) is a type of radar system where a known stable frequency continuous wave radio energy is transmitted and then received from any reflecting objects. Individual objects can be detected using the Doppler effect, which ...
semi-active homing system that was highly resistant to
radar jamming and deception
Radar jamming and deception is a form of electronic countermeasures that intentionally sends out radio frequency signals to interfere with the operation of radar by saturating its receiver with noise or false information. Concepts that blanket the ...
, and was able to track targets even at very low altitudes.
Thunderbird was the Army's only heavy anti-aircraft missile. As missile systems like Thunderbird made flight at medium and higher altitudes practically suicidal,
nap-of-the-earth
Nap-of-the-earth (NOE) is a type of very low-altitude flight course used by military aircraft to avoid enemy detection and attack in a high-threat environment. Other, mostly older terms include "ground-hugging", "terrain masking", "flying under t ...
flying became the norm and even shorter-range, faster acting systems were needed. Thunderbird's role was taken over by the much smaller
BAC Rapier as it became available.
History
Seaslug and Red Heathen
Thunderbird traces its history to the 1947 reorganization of British missile projects. At the time there was a wide variety of concepts under study among various groups in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
,
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
and
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
. All of these were handed to the
Ministry of Supply
The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...
(MoS) with the
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...
(RAE) providing technical direction.
Among the projects inherited by the RAE was a 1943 Navy effort to develop a
surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
s (SAMs) to shoot down aircraft carrying
glide bomb
A glide bomb or stand-off bomb is a standoff weapon with flight control surfaces to give it a flatter, gliding flight path than that of a conventional bomb without such surfaces. This allows it to be released at a distance from the target rat ...
s and
anti-shipping missile
An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good nu ...
s before they could reach firing range. In March 1944, a panel known as the GAP Committee formed within the MoS to consider this and similar designs from the Army. The group was reformed several times, growing each time as the topic grew more important. From their work the
LOPGAP
Seaslug was a first-generation surface-to-air missile designed by Armstrong Whitworth (later part of the Hawker Siddeley group) for use by the Royal Navy. Tracing its history as far back as 1943's LOPGAP design, it came into operational service ...
experimental design emerged, short for "Liquid Oxygen and Petrol Guided Anti-aircraft Projectile".
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and a ...
won a contract to develop its
liquid-fueled rocket
A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high specific impulse (''I''sp). This allows the volume of the propellant ta ...
engine.
The Navy's initial design was reformulated several times as the threat evolved from propeller-driven
medium bomber
A medium bomber is a military bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized Aerial bomb, bombloads over medium Range (aeronautics), range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombe ...
s to jet-powered
strike aircraft
An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...
, but remained largely the same in terms of performance; it called for a missile using
beam riding
Beam-riding, also known as Line-Of-Sight Beam Riding (LOSBR) or beam guidance, is a technique of directing a missile to its target by means of radar or a laser beam. The name refers to the way the missile flies down the guidance beam, which is ai ...
guidance on the Navy's Type 909 radar with range on the order of and capability against subsonic aircraft. This was renamed
Seaslug in 1947, shortly before being moved to the RAE. The RAE was interested in seeing
ramjet
A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an ass ...
technology applied to this role, and asked
de Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...
to submit an entry for Seaslug as well. They were too busy working with
Red Hawk, so the contract was offered to
Bristol Aerospace
Bristol Aerospace is a Canadian aerospace firm located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and is an operating division of Magellan Aerospace. Today it is the only remaining and surviving subsidiary of Bristol Aeroplane Company.
History
Bristol Aerospace ...
instead.
The GAP committee also considered the needs of the Army and Air Force, based on the same technology but aimed at higher performance aircraft and longer ranges on the order of . As a new project, it was assigned a name under the newly-introduced MoS
rainbow code
The Rainbow Codes were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects. They were mainly used by the Ministry of Supply from the end of the Second World War until 1958, when the ministry was broke ...
, "Red Heathen". English Electric won the development contract.
Stage Plan
Due to the way radar signals spread out in space with increasing range, beam riding is only useful at shorter ranges, and a paper produced by the RAE suggested that there was no way Red Heathen's accuracy requirements could be met with existing radars. This meant new
Gun Laying radar
A fire-control radar (FCR) is a radar that is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and range rate) to a fire-control system in order to direct weapons such that they hit a target. They are sometim ...
s would have to be developed for this role, and that, in turn, led to a re-evaluation of the Red Heathen concept.
The MoS re-evaluated the missile program and split it into two "Stages". Red Heathen re-emerged in 1949 as a
semi-active radar homing
Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range Air-to-air missile, air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is ...
system with the same required range as Seaslug. Bristol's ramjet-powered Seaslug design was redirected to this new requirement instead of Navy use. A single set of radars would be used with both designs, this consisted of a
Ferranti
Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The firm was known ...
developed
tactical control radar Tactical Control is a term originating in the British Army to refer to a class of medium-range radar systems. They are generally used for controlling the airspace around a set location on the ground, sometimes a dispersed battery of anti-aircraft a ...
and the RRDE's "Yellow River"
fire control radar
A fire-control radar (FCR) is a radar that is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation angle, elevation, ranging, range and range rate) to a fire-control system in order to direct weapons such that they hit a ...
built by
British Thomson-Houston
British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England, and founded as a subsidiary of the General Electric Company (GE) of Schenectady, New York, United States. They were kno ...
.
In 1952 the projects were split, with Bristol's effort becoming "Red Duster" and English Electric's becoming "Red Shoes". These would fill the Stage 1 requirement, along with existing
early warning radar
An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum t ...
s and the
Gloster Javelin
The Gloster Javelin is a twin-engined T-tailed delta-wing subsonic night and all-weather interceptor aircraft that served with Britain's Royal Air Force from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s. The last aircraft design to bear the Gloster name ...
interceptor aircraft
An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are cap ...
. The original Red Heathen concept for a much longer-ranged weapon became "
Green Sparkler" and then "
Blue Envoy
Blue Envoy (a Rainbow Code name) was a British project to develop a ramjet-powered surface-to-air missile. It was tasked with countering supersonic bomber aircraft launching stand-off missiles, and thus had to have very long range and high-speed ...
", and relegated to Stage 2 deployment in the 1960s along with newer radars and interceptor aircraft.
Development
![Thunderbird Missile](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Thunderbird_Missile.jpg)
EE's design quickly developed into a fairly simple cylindrical fuselage with an
ogive
An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking.
Etymology
The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...
nose cone, four cropped-delta wings just behind the middle point of the fuselage, and four smaller control surfaces at the rear, in-line with the mid-mounted wings. The fuselage had a slight boat-tail narrowing at the extreme rear under the control surfaces. The sustainer was to be a
liquid fuel rocket
A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high specific impulse (''I''sp). This allows the volume of the propellant ta ...
developed for the missile, and was launched by four large "Gosling"
solid fuel rocket
A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used in warfare by the Arabs, Chinese, Persians ...
boosters lying between the control surfaces and wings. The boosters featured a single oversized fin of their own, and are particularly easy to spot due to a small flat surface at the end of every fin. This surface provided an outward drag component that help pull the booster away from the main body when released, helped by the booster's asymmetrical nose cone. Guidance was via
semi-active radar homing
Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range Air-to-air missile, air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is ...
, the Ferranti Type 83 "
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...
" pulsed
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
serving both as an acquisition and illumination system. The same radar was used with the competing Red Duster.
The test programme used development vehicles D1 to D4. D1 and D2 established some of the basic configuration issues, whilst D3 and D4 were used to test the aerodynamics of the design. The Army rejected the idea of using a liquid fuel rocket because of the difficulty in handling the highly reactive fuel in the field, so a solid rocket sustainer had to be chosen instead. Several different models of sustainer were tried, most of them known as the "Luton Test Vehicle", or LTV.
While testing of the Red Shoes was underway, the "competition" in the form of Red Duster was also entering testing. Red Duster demonstrated several serious problems, and the Army ended any interest in it. In the end the Red Duster problems were sorted out fairly quickly, and it entered service slightly before Red Shoes, as the
Bristol Bloodhound
The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of f ...
Mk. I.
The production Red Shoes missile was officially named Thunderbird. It entered service in 1959 and equipped 36 and 37 Heavy Air Defence Regiments, Royal Artillery. It was the first British-designed and produced missile to go into service with the British Army.
Further development
While development of the Stage 1 missiles was still ongoing, work on the Stage 2 systems was proving to be too far in advance of the state of the art to realistically enter service while the Red Duster and Red Shoes were still useful. In the meantime, advances in radar technology were proceeding rapidly, so it was decided to produce interim designs using new
continuous wave radar
Continuous-wave radar (CW radar) is a type of radar system where a known stable frequency continuous wave radio energy is transmitted and then received from any reflecting objects. Individual objects can be detected using the Doppler effect, whic ...
s which would dramatically improve the performance of the existing missiles.
In the case of the Thunderbird, the "Stage 1½" design utilized the new Type 86 "
Indigo Corkscrew" radar. As this was developed it changed names several times, becoming "
Green Flax", and after some paperwork with that name on it was lost and assumed compromised, "
Yellow Temple
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...
". In service it was known as Radar, AD, No 10 (fire control). The new radar greatly improved performance against low-level targets, as well as providing considerably better performance against
electronic countermeasures
An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...
.
To support Thunderbird operations in the field the regiments were equipped with the new Radar, AD, No 11 (tactical control, usually called '
Big Ears') and Radar, AD, No 12 (height finder, usually called '
Noddy') radar, giving them a longer range surveillance system. These radars were also known to
Marconi as the S303 and S404, or to the RAF as AMES Type 88 and Type 89. After leaving Army service in 1977 they were turned over to the RAF who used them for tactical control.
Several changes to the basic missile were undertaken as well. Although the size remained the same, the new version featured much larger boosters, larger mid-mounted wings with sweep on the front and back, and a new nose cone with a much higher
fineness ratio
In naval architecture and aerospace engineering, the fineness ratio is the ratio of the length of a body to its maximum width. Shapes that are short and wide have a low fineness ratio, those that are long and narrow have high fineness ratios. A ...
. The boosters lost their asymmetrical nose cones, but the surfaces on the end of their fins grew much larger. Overall the missile still looked much like the Mk. I version, as opposed to the
Bloodhound
The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ''l ...
which became much larger as it was upgraded.
The improved missile was known in service as Thunderbird 2. They entered service in 1966 and were removed in 1977.
Thunderbird Surface to Air Missile System
Operators
Former
; : British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
; : Finnish Army
The Finnish Army (Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft ...
- planned purchase of either Thunderbird or Bloodhound was eventually cancelled, but only after deactivated training missiles had been delivered in the late 1960s. These were used in the training role until 1979.
; : Royal Saudi Air Force
The Royal Saudi Air Force ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْجَوِّيَّةُ الْمَلَكِيَّةْ ٱلسُّعُوْدِيَّة, Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Malakiyah as-Su’udiyah) (RSAF) is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabia ...
- 37 second-hand Thunderbird I missiles purchased in 1967
Potential
Negotiations were also held with Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
and Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
.
Survivors
Thunderbird remains a popular museum item in the UK. One of the missiles is now displayed outside the Midland Air Museum
The Midland Air Museum (MAM) is situated just outside the village of Baginton in Warwickshire, England, and is adjacent to Coventry Airport. The museum includes the ''Sir Frank Whittle Jet Heritage Centre'' (named after the local aviation pione ...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
, England. Another example on a launcher is displayed in The Royal Artillery Museum
The Royal Artillery Museum, which was one of the world's oldest military museums, was first opened to the public in Woolwich in southeast London in 1820. It told the story of the development of artillery through the ages by way of a collection o ...
, Woolwich, England.
A Thunderbird Mk1 is also on display at the National Museum of Flight
The National Museum of Flight is Scotland's national aviation museum, at East Fortune Airfield, just south of the village of East Fortune, Scotland. It is one of the museums within National Museums Scotland. The museum is housed in the original ...
located at East Fortune, just outside Edinburgh, Scotland. (http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/museum_of_flight.aspx )
A Thunderbird is also stationed outside th
Combined Services Military Museum
at Maldon in Essex.
A Thunderbird nose cone and parts of main body on display at Predannack Anti-Aircraft Battery and museum, Cornwall, UK
Two of the Finnish missiles survive, one missile is located i
Museo Militaria, Hämeenlinna
another in th
Anti-aircraft Museum, Tuusula
A Thunderbird is displayed in Woomera township of the Woomera Rocket Range, South Australia.
Specifications
*''Length'': 6.35 m
*''Body Diameter'': 0.527 m
*''Fin Span'': 1.63 m
*''Warheads'': Continuous HE rod
*''Speed'': Mach 2.7
*''Range'': 75 km
See also
*Bristol Bloodhound
The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of f ...
- a similar weapon adopted by the RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
* Hawker Siddeley Seaslug - a similar weapon adopted by the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
*List of Rainbow Codes
The Rainbow Codes were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects. They were mainly used by the Ministry of Supply from the end of the Second World War until 1958, when the ministry was broke ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
"Thunderbird"
''Flight'' 25 September 1959 pages 295-299 and 302-303
*
External links
a 1959 advertisement for the Thunderbird in ''Flight'' magazine
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
History of science and technology in the United Kingdom
Surface-to-air missiles of the United Kingdom
Military equipment introduced in the 1950s