Vickers Supersonic Valiant

High-Speed, High-Altitude Jet Bomber Proposal

United Kingdom | 1952

"The Vickers Supersonic Valiant was proposed as a high-speed, high-altitude version of the original Valiant during the early 1950s."

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Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/13/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

While a slew of concepts concerning long-range nuclear-capable, medium-class, jet-powered bombers were conceived of, and entertained, by the British Air Ministry during the Cold War period (1947-1991), only three were eventually taken into service. These three - the Avro "Vulcan", Handley Page "Victor", and Vickers "Valiant" - went on to form the "V-bomber" airborne nuclear deterrent force for the Royal Air Force for decades. Other design studies centered on these three aircraft were also taken under consideration though ultimately swept aside before the end (for various reasons).

For Vickers and their Valiant, there was the "Supersonic Valiant" offering which intended to make the subsonic production bomber something more of a fast-attack bombing platform. High-speed aided aircraft in being able to outrun ground-based defenses and interceptors attempting to meet them. Retaining a useful conventional and nuclear war load capability also ensured the revised bomber form could produce the required results over the battlefield - mainly destruction in the former and deterrence in the latter.

The challenges in making the subsonic Valiant a sustained supersonic performer were many. Chief changes were to be greater sweepback of the mainplanes and sweepback at each of the tailplane members. Four engines would continue to power the design and engineers centered on the Rolls-Royce "Conway" line. The aircraft could therefore cruise near Mach 1 speeds and reach speeds of Mach 1.4 when it needed to. Capable of flying up to 58,000 feet, the bomber also maintained an advantage of altitude against ground-based fire and potentially missiles and interceptors. Fuel drop tanks would ensure a useable operational range under war loads - reaching perhaps as far as 5,110 miles.

The end-result of 1952, as drawn up, was to become a much sleeker version of the original 1955 Valiant. The mainplanes were shoulder-mounted with slim intakes at the leading edges aspirating the quadruple engine arrangement within the wing roots (two engines per wing root). The members also had a anhedral (downward angle) form to them and conformal nacelles to house the main landing gear legs. The primary components of the bomber would all be centralized in the tubular fuselage encompassing the pressurized cockpit (presumably seating five crewmen as in the original Valiant), the bomb bay, and the various systems and sub-systems needed to make the aircraft a success. At the aft-end of the fuselage was to be a single vertical tail surface with high-mounted horizontal plan in a "T-style" arrangement. A wholly-retractable, wheeled tricycle undercarriage would allow for the necessary ground-running actions.

Like other proposed models of the complex and expensive V-bomber force, the Supersonic Valiant was not furthered beyond preliminary drawing work - authorities not being sold on the feasibility of the design nor its promised capabilities.

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Vickers Supersonic Valiant High-Speed, High-Altitude Jet Bomber Proposal.

4 x Rolls-Royce "Conway" Co.3 turbojet engines with afterburning capability of unknown thrust output.
Propulsion

1,074 mph
1,728 kph | 933 kts
Max Speed

58,005 ft
17,680 m | 11 miles
Service Ceiling

5,109 miles
8,222 km | 4,440 nm
Operational Range

5,000 ft/min
1,524 m/min
Rate-of-Climb

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Vickers Supersonic Valiant High-Speed, High-Altitude Jet Bomber Proposal.

5
(MANNED)
Crew

130.0 ft
39.62 m
O/A Length

85.0 ft
(25.90 m)
O/A Width

207,235 lb
(94,000 kg)
MTOW

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the Vickers Supersonic Valiant High-Speed, High-Altitude Jet Bomber Proposal .

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Vickers Supersonic Valiant family line.

Supersonic Valiant - Proposed supersonic form of the original Valiant V-Bomber.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Vickers Supersonic Valiant. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 0 Units
Contractor(s): Vickers - UK

[ United Kingdom ]

1 / 1

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Going Further...
The Vickers Supersonic Valiant High-Speed, High-Altitude Jet Bomber Proposal appears in the following collections:

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