The Vickers Type 559 was a supersonic

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 ...

design by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

aircraft company

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

and was their submission for

Operational Requirement F.155 Operational Requirement F.155 was a specification issued by the British Ministry of Supply on 15 January 1955 for an interceptor aircraft to defend the United Kingdom from Soviet high-flying nuclear-armed supersonic bombers. Discussion about ...

in 1955. It was not accepted for further consideration; the most valued submissions being from

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 an ...

and

Fairey Fairey may refer to: People *Charles Richard Fairey, British aircraft manufacturer *David Fairey, English cricketer * Francis Fairey (1887 - 1971), Canadian politician *Jim Fairey, baseball player *Mike Fairey, British businessman * Shepard Fairey, ...

, however the F.155 requirement was dropped as a result of the

1957 Defence White Paper The 1957 White Paper on Defence (Cmnd. 124) was a British white paper issued in March 1957 setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected w ...

.Buttler 1996, p.73.

Design and development

The Type 559 was an unorthodox

canard Canard is French for duck, a type of aquatic bird. Canard may also refer to: Aviation *Canard (aeronautics), a small wing in front of an aircraft's main wing * Aviafiber Canard 2FL, a single seat recreational aircraft of canard design * Blé ...

design with a massive chin air intake, split vertically, for two reheated

de Havilland Gyron The de Havilland PS.23 or PS.52 Gyron, originally the Halford H-4, was Frank Halford's last turbojet design while working for de Havilland. Intended to outpower any design then under construction, the Gyron was the most powerful engine of its ...

engines An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

thrust Thrust is a reaction force In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can al ...

each, placed as in the

English Electric Lightning The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufa ...

, one above the other. Two

de Havilland Spectre Junior The de Havilland Spectre is a rocket engine that was built by the de Havilland Engine Company in the 1950s. It was one element of the intended mixed power-plant for combination rocket-jet interceptor aircraft of the Royal Air Force, such as t ...

rockets were situated, one each side of the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

at wing level. Two

Red Hebe Red Hebe was a large active radar homing air-to-air missile developed by Vickers for the Royal Air Force's Operational Requirement F.155 interceptor aircraft. It was a development of the earlier Red Dean, which was not suitable for launch by the ...

Blue Jay The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are ...

missiles were mounted alongside the upper part of the fuselage between the canard and the mainplane, which had endplates incorporating twin

rudders A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

Specifications

Notes

References

* Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan. ''Supermarine Aircraft since 1914''. London:Putnam, 1987. . * Butler, Tony. "Futile Rivals: F.155T - The Quest for "An Ultimate in Interceptors"". ''

Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International ' ...

'', No. 61, January/February 1996. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. . pp. 65–73. * Buttler, Tony. ''British Secret Projects: Jet Fighters Since 1950''. Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing, 2000, .

External links

Type 559 page at VickersSupermarine.org.uk
{{Supermarine aircraft Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United Kingdom Delta-wing aircraft 1950s British fighter aircraft Type 559 Canard aircraft Twinjets Mixed-power aircraft