The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) TSR-2 was a cancelled Cold War tactical strike and reconnaissance aircraft developed for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The TSR-2 was designed around both conventional and nuclear weapons delivery: it was to penetrate well-defended frontline areas at low altitudes and very high speeds, and then attack high-value targets in rear areas.
source.image: Found And Explained
The TSR-2 was a very long (89ft) slim aircraft with a shoulder-mounted delta wing and turned down wing tips. Power was provided by two Bristol Siddeley Olympus 320 engines equipped with afterburners. The tandem main wheel units retracted into the fuselage, allowing a very thin wing to be fitted. The fin and horizontal tail surfaces were all-moving and provided control around all axes, with the ailerons providing both pitch and roll control.
The envisioned “standard mission” for the TSR-2 was to carry a 2,000 lb weapon internally for a combat radius of 1,000 nautical miles. Of that mission 100 nautical miles was to be flown at higher altitudes at Mach 1.7 and the 200 nmi into and out of the target area was to be flown as low as 200 ft at a speed of Mach 0.95.
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The remainder of the mission was to be flown at Mach 0.92. If the entire mission were to be flown at the low 200 ft altitude, the mission radius was reduced to 700 nmi (810 mi; 1,300 km).
