Vickers-Armstrong 559 (1955)
British Supersonic Interceptor Concept
STATUS: RETIRED
Production Run - 2018-2025
STATUS: RETIRED
Production Run - 2018-2025
About the Design
In the mid-1950s, the RAF issued a call to British military aircraft manufacturers requesting proposals for a high-speed jet interceptor that could take down high-altitude jet bombers.
Vickers-Armstrong's response was the Type 559. The plane was distinguished by its set-back main wings, twin rudders, forward canards, and massive chin-set air intake split vertically to feed two de Havilland Gyron jet engines arranged vertically in the manner of the English Electric Lightning. The aircraft would have been armed with two Red Hebe or Blue Jay missiles mounted atop its central fuselage, just behind the canards. Although quite eye-catching the Type 559 was considered too radical and did not make it past the design stage. |
About the Model
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