Re TSR2,Soviet Union s**t themselves when they realised they had no defence against a low level supersonic jet

Question

Is there any evidence to suggest that the USSR influenced the then Labour goverment in the cancellation of the TSR2 project?

Answer 1

Why UK needed that airplain/ They wanted to bomb some countrie?

That plain is wery beutiful.

Answer 2

The TSR2 was cancelled only because it wasnt a good enough to justify the amount spent on it.
The Russians had air defences as good as any other nation at the time, The UK and the USA had the same troubles, and those troubles exist today, there are very few options in defending against a supersonic ultra low level air threat. The only option is to attack from above with fighters directed by AWACS systems. Ground based SAMS simply will not have enough time to lock onto a high speed aircraft at 50-100ft.

The TSR2 was the testbed for much of the technology in the best low level attack aircraft in history, the Tornado. It may look completely different on the outside, but its guts are the pretty much the same.
The USSR would have had no bearing on the TSR2 development. Thats like saying Iran will stop the development of the JSF. Not going to happen.

Answer 3

That's and interesting view point .. The real culprit in the causation of the cancellation of the TSR2 was the Americans and the IMF(international Monetary fund) oh and the unions involved in countless strike in Britain which brought the country almost to a point of bankruptcy through industrial strike action.

The Wilson government sought a loan from the IMF.. The IMF (controlled by the Americans) said yeah you can have a loan but you have to cancel the TSR2 project.. Wilson government said yeah but we need a replacement for our worn out Canberra / lighting /buccaneer/ hunter/ aircraft which are all past their best now!..
Tu tu tu said the Americans you cant afford to develop the TSR2 so why don't you buy some nice bright shinny new F111 aircraft from us!. we'll give preferential terms.. The sums added up so TSR2 was cancelled and F111 was substituted.. the following years brought more hardship and so the F111 was also cancelled which meant the RAF were supplied with re jigged F4 Phantoms which went to give good service with both the RAF and fleet air arm until been scrapped when the tornado aircraft was introduced.

You can still see one of the prototype TRS2 aircraft at RAF Cosford...

Answer 4

I thought the project was cancelled because of over spending and being plagued with technical problems. The aircraft was very unstable at low speeds, i,e on takeoff / landing etc. It wouldn't be the 1st white elephant that defence budgets were wasted on. The nimrod was massively over budget and in the end not really up to it, hence the purchase of 2nd hand American AWACS aircraft.

Answer 5

I was in the aircraft industry, working on avionics systems for military aircrafr when the TSR2 project was cancelled. I understood that it was cancelled on the grounds of cost in a difficult economic climate.

Answer 6

What, like The Russians, would be scared by the Tornado, the Mig would piss all over it. Ps what is the TSR2, sounds like something out of Star Wars.

Answer 7

The TSR2 was an inept and crappy design and would have been more dangerous to its pilots than any enemy.