Concorde’s Military Provenance

Morien Morgan (MM) was (Head/GW)/RAE, 1948-54, then Deputy Director: he was Father of UK/GW, especially of stand-off bombs (to be ASMs). RAE perceived supersonic cruise as best on stainless steel, so Blue Steel ASM (deployed 1964, Mk.2 V-Bombers) and Mach 3 Avro 730 recce-bomber: that was axed 4/57 as inoperable/unaffordable. On 5/11/56 MoS Supersonic Transport Aircraft Committee (STAC) had met under MM Chair. RAE moved on to M.2.2/alloy/slender delta wing: MoS placed Study contracts 9/3/59 with HSAL (“thick wing”) and Bristol (“thin”). MM then moved as Scientific Advisor to the Air Minister, as the link between boffin – novel notions -and User. He advised CAS ACM Pike (1/1/60-1/9/63) and Air Minister J.Amery (28/10/60-16/7/62: he was PM Macmillan’s son-in-law). MoA placed a $1Mn. SST Feasibility Study contract with BAC on the day of its formation, 1/3/60.

CDG 3/60 Approved a Force de Frappe starting with Mirage IVA (50 contracted 29/5/62, 12 more 4/11/62). No payload – any one of Bomb, range, ECM kit. Like RAE, ONERA then settled on M.2.2/alloy/ogee. With Sud they presented an Empire-binder/ASM carrier and won Study funds.

US deployed (upto 593) GAM-77 Hound Dog ASMs, 500 nm range, on B-52C-G. 102 B-52H, 185 supersonic B-58B and maybe many B-70A Valkyrie were to have a 1,000 nm Air Launched Ballistic Missile: won by Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt, Joint with UK wef 6/6/60 for 2 Wings, 48 Vulcan B.2 (1 or 2 each), then for 60 VC10. Though DoD had axed B-58B, 7/59 (and would axe XB-70 28/3/61) CAS Pike saw a supersonic ALBM-carrier as Required and so notified Ministers 1/61: the SIOP Task of Bomber Command was to waypave (today: SEADS) ahead of USAF/SAC, so…do keep up at the back! PM Mac wobbled on the cost of the Deterrent, judged any Skybolt successor to be “questionable” and 10/61 foresaw lapse of the Deterrent c.1970. Separately, he changed his mind on EEC and applied to join it, 10/8/61. Through 1961/62 much discussion. The outcome was determined by France.

MM guided the melding of Super Caravelle and BAC T.223, so is noted as Father of Concorde. Mac commended to Cabinet, 10/62 that UK “ought to cater for this profitable modern eccentricity”, funded on a civil budget, though “British Leaders, regarding (UK supersonics) as more advanced (than France’s thought by 29/11/62 SST MoU to make) a gesture (to aid CDG’s) ambitions to construct a potent strike force(, hoping he) would be grateful (re. EEC)”.

Skybolt was chopped 11/12/62. Mac declined US’ Offer that UK take it over, and secured SSBN/FBM. JFK then offered those to CDG, who declined but secured 12 C-135F: he uttered his Non, 14/1/63. UK would then have exercised the MoU’s Break Clause and terminated its sponsorship…except that J.Amery, Minister of Aviation wef 16/7/62, had deliberately excluded such a thing, to prevent CDG vacuuming UK’s “advanced supersonic data”, then himself exercising it.

France lost interest in any military Concorde, holding QRA wef 1/10/64 with upto 36 Mirage IVA, tanked by C-135FR, accompanied by EW/Mirage IVAs. So, why did she not welcome new UK Ministers’ wef 16/10/64 wish to chop? Because France was afflicted by the same supremacy urge that had caused Attlee’s Cabinet to fund Brabazon Types when UK was broke and cold. So we got on with a wholly-civil SST. CAS Pike tried to resurrect BAC X-12 and other ASM schemes to hang on the Tactical Canberra replacement as a surreptitious Deterrent platform, thus boosting its cost and hastening its demise.

(Sources include: http://www.concordesst.com/history/historyindex accessed 20/5/15;
R.Moore, Nuclear Illusion, Nuclear Reality, Palgrave, 2010,Pp.139/161/218-222/252;
J.R.Walker, Br. Nuclear Weapons and the Test Ban, 1954-73, Ashgate,2010,P199;
I.Clark,Nuclear Diplomacy & the Special Relationship,OUP,1994,Pp303/319/321/399/397;
C.Williams, Harold Macmillan,Weidenfeldfeld,2009,P375;
R.Jenkins,Life at the Centre,Macmillan,1991,P166; D.Healey,The Time of My Life,1990,P328;
K.Owen,(Ed),ICBH Concorde Witness Seminar 19/11/98, pub.2002,P54).

(BAC 221 flew with bonkers. Demise of Skybolt preceded Concorde wing detailed design by Sud Avn.: hardpoints thus improbable. What about drag? Ingress: subsonic unto SAM-belt, then supersonic dash; egress, supersonic unto safe airspace.
Why is this military episode not widely known? Same reason as DH.106 Comet being first funded as a Mosquito-successor. When Defence was under abnormal budget pressure, Ministers chose to put them on Civil Votes.)