Vickers Type 559

Type 559
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Role	Interceptor
Manufacturer	Vickers-Armstrongs
Number built	None

The Vickers Type 559 was a supersonic interceptor aircraft design by the British aircraft company Vickers-Armstrongs and was their submission for Operational Requirement F.155 in 1955.

It was not accepted for further consideration; the most valued submissions being from Armstrong Whitworth and Fairey, however the F.155 requirement was dropped as a result of the 1957 Defence White Paper.

Design and development

The Type 559 was an unorthodox canard design with a massive chin air intake, split vertically, for two reheated de Havilland Gyron engines of 20,000 pounds-force (89 kN) thrust each, placed as in the English Electric Lightning, one above the other. Two de Havilland Spectre Junior rockets were situated each side of the fuselage at wing level. Two Red Hebe or Blue Jay missiles were mounted alongside the upper part of the fuselage between the canard and the mainplane, which had end-plates incorporating twin rudders.

Specifications

Data from Supermarine Aircraft since 1914

General characteristics

• Crew: 2 (pilot, weapons systems/navigation)
• Length: 68 ft 3 in (20.8 m)
• Wingspan: 42 ft (12.8 m)
• Height: 15 ft 3 in (4.65 m)
• Wing area: 615 ft² (57.1 m²)
• Empty weight: 41,485 lb (18,817 kg)
• Loaded weight: 62,190 lb (28,209 kg)
• Powerplant:
  • 2 × de Havilland Gyron PS.26/1 turbojet, 20,000 lbf (89 kN) each
  • 2 × De Havilland Spectre Junior kerosene/hydrogen peroxide rocket motor, 5,000 lbf (22 kN) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 2.5 Mach
• Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m) specified by F.155
  
• Endurance: 32 minutes

Armament

• Missiles: 2 × Red Hebe (radar guided) or Blue Jay (heat-seeking) missiles

References

• Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan. Supermarine Aircraft since 1914. London:Putnam, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-800-3.
• Butler, Tony. "Futile Rivals: F.155T - The Quest for "An Ultimate in Interceptors"". Air Enthusiast, No. 61, January/February 1996. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. ISSN 0143-5450. pp. 65–73.
• Buttler, Tony. British Secret Projects: Jet Fighters Since 1950. Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing, 2000, ISBN 1-85780-095-8.

External links

• Type 559 page at VickersSupermarine.org.uk