I have bought the new Avro Z-59 (or W-59) missile kit from S&M models in 1/72 scale;
I would like to know if more infos are available on this project as the only infos I have come from the excellent book "Vulcan's Hammer". I mean a small drawing and a picture showing the machine in flight.
Came across this the other day: the Brits looked at the nuclear ramjet idea as well, under the designation Avro Z-59. It's been mentioned once or twice on this site and in Chris Gibson's book Vulcan's Hammer: V-Force Projects and Weapons Since 1945, and a one-line mention in the June 2016 issue of Space Chronicle. Would have apparently mated the front end of a Blue Steel missile to a PLUTO-type ramjet. I'm not entirely clear on whether it would've used a single nuke or several with a SLAM dispenser system, but if it was based on Blue Steel I'd assume a single Green Bamboo/Red Snow megaton-class warhead (Red Snow being a variant of the W28 discussed further up re: the SLAM). This art is, I believe, from the book.
You, sir, have excellent taste. A Colder War is one of my favourite things Stross has written (look up A Tall Tail for a shorter and funnier piece not unrelated to this thread), if not my favourite short/novella in general. Check out his other alt-Cold War story Missile Gap too, it has a nuclear-powered ekranoplan aircraft carrier. And if you don't know his stuff already, check out Alex Jay Brady on ArtStation, he's got art of Project Koschei and aforementioned ekranoplan. But yeah, the line
the NB-39 project: twelve atomic-powered bombers armed with XK-PLUTO, ready to tackle Project Koschei should the Soviets show signs of unsealing the bunker. Three hundred megatons of H-bombs pointed at a single target, and nobody was certain it would be enough to do the job.
If it were a design capable of carrying a single nuclear warhead, it would not make sense to install the ramjet over the fuselage, in my opinion this configuration indicates some kind of multi-charge launch system through a ventral hatch.
Not sure who relocated my post from the SLAM thread. Yes, I realize this thread exists, but it's also not been posted in for 11 years, and there's more general discussion there on the nuclear ramjet concept as a whole. Would appreciate if it was moved back, especially with how little information exists on the Z-59.
If it were a design capable of carrying a single nuclear warhead, it would not make sense to install the ramjet over the fuselage, in my opinion this configuration indicates some kind of multi-charge launch system through a ventral hatch.
Keep in mind that's not an official design, it's an artist's conception from a 2011 book, and I feel like whoever drew it was a real fan of the English Electric Lightning (who isn't?), the ram intake and engine module has a really similar look going. As for the shape and how it relates to the weapon deployment system, I think this one actually does make more sense for a single warhead, not just from being derived from Blue Steel either. I don't have Vulcan's Hammer so I'm not sure how much info about the Z-59 is in it, but there's next to none available online.
However, if we assume the Z-59 would be running a similar flight profile to the SLAM - that is, Mach 3+ flat-out on the deck, so low it's just clearing the treetops, dropping warheads isn't really an option. From everything I've read about the SLAM, it would've had a similar layout to the AGM-28 Hound Dog with a system ejecting munitions upwards, and there's three obvious reasons for that.
dropping nuclear warheads into the airstream of a ramjet intake is...not the best of ideas.
airbursts are a much more effective in terms of damage for blast yield.
the SLAM was meant to hit multiple targets, which requires getting out of the kill radius of whatever triple-digit-kiloton or low-megaton nuke you just delivered before it goes off. Time-fuzed laydown delivery is an option, but for maximum effect you'd want to kick your warhead to optimal airburst height and maybe even have it pop out a parachute or high-drag retarder while the missile gets the hell out of Dodge.
Now, if I'm right and the Z-59 was meant to carry a single W28/Red Snow, it'd be a massive waste of resources to build and wouldn't have much place in British strategic doctrine (ie. the rest of NATO will probably frown on having that thing pass through their airspace on the way to Moscow), which is probably why it didn't even get as far as the SLAM.
Now, if I'm right and the Z-59 was meant to carry a single W28/Red Snow, it'd be a massive waste of resources to build and wouldn't have much place in British strategic doctrine (ie. the rest of NATO will probably frown on having that thing pass through their airspace on the way to Moscow), which is probably why it didn't even get as far as the SLAM.
Erm, why? It's a nuclear-powered missile; why should it ever pass the NATO airspace (and the strongest Soviet air defenses in Eastern Europe)? It could be just launched from Britain toward Arctic and from there start the attack run.
Erm, why? It's a nuclear-powered missile; why should it ever pass the NATO airspace (and the strongest Soviet air defenses in Eastern Europe)? It could be just launched from Britain toward Arctic and from there start the attack run.
...d'oh. Right. The worst part is I've actually corrected that mistake on other boards talking about missile/bomber ranges and the need to remember Earth is round. It's even right there in A Colder War, the "NB-39s" carrying XK-PLUTO are on permanent standby over the Arctic.
That does change the strategic calculations a little. Any SLAM-type missile is going to be absolute hellspawn just by its very nature, but a Blue Steel-based Z-59 with a W28/Red Snow singular warhead is sort of a meaner SM-64 Navaho. Which would've looked good on paper in the era before ICBMs. It's just not the Dr. Strangelove grade of pure doomsday device that the SLAM was.
That does change the strategic calculations a little. Any SLAM-type missile is going to be absolute hellspawn just by its very nature, but a Blue Steel-based Z-59 with a W28/Red Snow singular warhead is sort of a meaner SM-64 Navaho. Which would've looked good on paper in the era before ICBMs. It's just not the Dr. Strangelove grade of pure doomsday device that the SLAM was.
Yep, exactly. It's even have some (limited) advantages over ICBM; it's much more compact, could be fired from simple ramp, and could easily be transported over land or by sea. For UK, arguably those advantages make at least some sence. Of course, the disadvantages - cost, engine complexity and formidable tesging problems - were much greater.
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