The Bristol Thor, latterly Bristol Siddeley BS.1009 Thor, was a diameter ramjet engine developed by
Bristol Aero Engines (later
Bristol Siddeley Engines
Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd (BSEL) was a British Aircraft engine, aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aeroplane Company, Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley, Armstrong Siddeley Motors ...
) for 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 ...
anti-aircraft missile.
Although Bristol Aero Engines acquired
ramjet
A ramjet is a form of airbreathing jet engine that requires forward motion of the engine to provide air for combustion. Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around and can operate up to .
Ramjets can be particularly appropriat ...
technology from the US company
Marquardt, BAE put considerable effort into developing the Thor unit, including the construction of a high altitude test plant (HATP) at their Patchway site, with a supersonic test cell.
The Bloodhound Mk.1 could attain a speed of
Mach 2.2, while the Mk.2 was capable of just over Mach 2.7.
Variants
;BT.1 Thor:
;BT.2 Thor:
;BT.4 Thor:
;BS.1009 Thor:
Specifications (BT.2 Thor)
Notes
References
*
{{BristolAeroengines
Ramjet engines
Thor
Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...