CASTOR-C (Canberra)

JFC Fuller

JFC Fuller

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Before ASTOR (which became Sentinel) there was CASTOR (Corps Airborne Stand-Off Radar), which came in two forms as follows:


Army: CASTOR-I, this was Britten-Norman Islander with the RSRE / Thorn-EMI SAR*- this aircraft has been relatively well documented
RAF: CASTOR-C, this was to use the remaining Canberra PR.9 airframes with a variant of the RSRE / Thorn-EMI SAR*

I do not know whether a PR.9 derivative was flown but an RAE/RSRE Canberra B.6 flew with the RSRE / Thorn-EMI radar equipment installed (a searchwater derivative IIRC). In the RAE/RSRE Canberra that was used as a test-bed for Synthetic Aperture Radar the radar was installed in the forward part of the bomb-bay as can be seen in the picture on page 42 of the August 7th 1986 edition of the New Scientist

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OZDUtqfi1LsC&pg=PA42&dq=RSRE+Canberra+radar&hl=en&sa=X&ei=iNwGT5SVMs638QPi79niDw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=RSRE Canberra radar&f=false

*Ferranti and GEC Avionics also appear to have had a radar for this programme - does anybody have any further information about these? I am also aware that there was DEMSAR (Demonstration Synthetic Aperture Radar) based on the design of the US UPD-7 used on OV-1B Mohawk.

Apparently lot of the work was undertaken at RSRE in cooperation with Racal.
 
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Tornado replace Canberra? What a bally silly idea.

Mind you I lost a bet when the RAF retired the Canberra first.
 
I don't think there was a formal 'fly off', but that the Army preferred the EMI radar after trials, probably because it was so similar to a production item and would be related to the AEW Islander etc. (http://www.spyflight.co.uk/defender.htm ), spreading cost/risk. Going from memory I think there was a plan for the Army to get a dozen or so Islanders with the EMI radars (not sure if it became a formal Staff Target or Requirement?) but the RAF mission muddied the waters and it 'drifted'.

IIRC this comes from a Jane's Defence Weekly article I read from the early/mid 90s.


Edit: Also see http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1983/1983%20-%201459.html. I guess the fact that Thorn EMI were offering two types of CASTOR radar, for the RAF and Army, could have helped their case. From the Flight article it seems TEMI started on the Canberra one first, and then developed the Islander radar after Ferranti got the first contract.
 
Harrier,

As far as I can make out, at least at one point, both the Army and RAF versions were planned, but as you say, it seems to have drifted. The are often talked about alongside Phoenix.

DamienB,

I am working from early 80s references in Hansard that describe Tornado as a Canberra replacement, see: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1981/jan/29/canberra-and-vulcan-aircraft

Also, take a look at the 1981 Review documents that Harrier posted in the Alternative History thread- they have the Canberra out of service by 1986.

There are also references in various publications from the time to a reconnaissance pod being developed specifically for the Tornado (so not the Jaguar pod that got renamed or the much later RAPTOR) though I confess that I have found nothing else.
 
Perhaps I should have added a smiley... the RAF had tried to "replace" the Canberra on so many occasions it had become a running joke that MRCA stood for 'Must Replace Canberra AGAIN'...
 
I worked on CASTOR in the late 70's while at JARIC on the merits and drawbacks of using SAR alone for the task. At one point the Army Air Corps at Detmold in West Germany invited the US Army to demonstrate their OV-1D Mohawk with it's SLAR system which was doing the job in southern Germany. It would have been a quick easy fit for the role. However, when senior RAF Officers at HQRAFG got to hear of it they got their 'throttles on a twist' and immediately banned the US from visiting. Claiming that the Mohawk was a medium weight combat capable aircraft and therefore not cleared for use by the British Army Air Corps which were only cleared for Helicopters and Light Reconnaissance aircraft types. They were insistant that the army could only have the Islander/Defender while the RAF would use the Canberra. - it was a stalemate. Of course neither Canberra or Defender could do the job, but it dragged on for decades producing nothing with the funds for the CASTOR being used to prolong the Canberra fleet. CASTOR had two elements, one was the Stand-Off radar to identify 'Possible or Probable' targets, which would then be 'photo confirmed' by Remotely Piloted systems. The army AN/USD -501 Midge Drone (a true 'drone' autonomous in operation, no cround control needed) was later replaced by the Phoenix (which was a farce) it was going nowhere when the Soviet Union collapsed and the need for the system was deemed to be unnecessary The eventual emergence in 1991 of the Sentinel was an off-shoot with the same limitations, radar could not identify targets, only locate possible targets, which is why it was scrapped when the new generation RPAS came into service.
 
Very interesting. I wondered why the Mohawk was never considered.

Thanks

Chris
 
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