AIRCRAFT PROFILE 54 EE CANBERRA RAF MARTIN B-57 RB-57A USAF TROPIC MOON

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AIRCRAFT PROFILE 54 ENGLISH ELECTRIC CANBERRA MkI & MkIV MARTIN B-57A RB-57A USF

 

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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia

The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation jet-powered medium bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft (21,430 m) in 1957. Due to its ability to evade the early jet interceptors and its significant performance advancement over contemporary piston-engined bombers, the Canberra was a popular export product and served with air forces of many nations.

In addition to being a tactical nuclear strike aircraft, the Canberra proved to be highly adaptable, serving in varied roles such as tactical bombing and photographic and electronic reconnaissance. Canberras served in the Suez Crisis, the Vietnam War, the Falklands War, the Indo-Pakistani wars, and numerous African conflicts. In several wars, each of the opposing sides had Canberras in their air forces. The Canberra was retired by its first operator, the Royal Air Force (RAF), in June 2006, 57 years after its first flight. Three of the Martin B-57 variants remain in service, performing meteorological work for NASA, as well as providing electronic communication (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node or BACN) testing for deployment to Afghanistan.

The resultant aircraft, designated the Canberra B2, first flew on 21 April 1950, piloted by Roland Beamont. Proving to be fairly free of problems, this first flight was almost immediately followed by the manufacturing of production Canberras, entering squadron service with RAF No. 101 Squadron in May 1951. In a testament to the aircraft's benign handling characteristics, the transition program consisted of only twenty hours in the Gloster Meteor and three hours in the dual-control Canberra trainer.

With a maximum speed of 470 knots (870 km/h; 540 mph), a standard service ceiling of 48,000 ft (14,600 m), and the ability to carry a 3.6-tonne (7,900 lb) payload, the Canberra was an instant success. It was built in 27 versions that equipped 35 RAF squadrons, and was exported to more than 15 countries, including Australia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Rhodesia, South Africa, Sweden, Venezuela and West Germany.

The strategic reconnaissance role within the RAF had been carried out by the de Havilland Mosquito; in 1946 the Air Ministry issued Specification PR.31/46 as a jet-powered replacement for the Mosquito. To meet the requirement, the B2 design was modified by adding a 14-inch (36 cm) bay forward of the wing behind the cockpit to house seven cameras. It also had an additional fuel tank in the forward part of the bomb bay and only needed a two-man crew. The prototype, designated PR3, first flew on 19 March 1950, followed by the aircraft on 31 July 1952. It entered service in December 1952 when No. 540 Squadron RAF began to convert from the Mosquito PR.34. The Canberra PR3 was the first aircraft designed for the RAF purely for PR.

To enable crews to convert to flying the Canberra, a trainer version was developed to meet Air Ministry Specification T2/49. The prototype designated T4 first flew on 12 June 1951. It was the same basic design as the B2 apart from the introduction of side-by-side seating for the pilot and the instructor and the replacement of the glazed nose with a solid nose. The first production T4 flew on 20 September 1953 and the variant entered service with No. 231 Operational Conversion Unit RAF in early 1954. As well as the operational conversion unit, all the B2-equipped bomber squadrons received at least one T4 for training.

Thrust was provided by a pair of 30 kN axial flow Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets. The manufacturer specified that Coffman engine starters should be used to start the engine. An improvised method of starting the engine using compressed air was heavily discouraged by Rolls-Royce, but some operators successfully operated the Canberra's engines in such a manner, the benefit being significant cost savings over cartridges. The aircraft's maximum take-off weight was a little under 25 tonnes.

The Canberra could deploy many conventional weapons, typical weapons used were 250-pound, 500-pound, and 1000-pound bombs, the total bomb load could weigh up to 10,000 pounds (4.5 t). Two bomb-bays are housed within the fuselage, these are normally enclosed by conventional clam-shell doors; this was substituted for a rotating door on the Martin-built B-57 Canberras. Additional stores up to a total of 2,000 pounds (0.91 t) could be carried upon underwing pylons. Operators often developed and installed their own munitions, such as Rhodesia's anti-personnel bomblets, the Alpha bomb, a varied range of munitions were employed on Canberra fleets around the world. Anti-personnel flechette bombs were tested successfully from the Canberra by Rhodesia, but not used operationally due to international agreements.

In part due to its range limitation of just 2,000 miles (3,200 km), and its inability to carry the early, bulky nuclear bombs, the Canberra was typically employed in the role of a tactical bomber as opposed to that of a strategic one. In British service, many of the Canberras that were stationed at remote overseas locations did not undertake modifications to become nuclear- capable until as late as 1957.

The Canberra B2 started to enter service with 101 Squadron in January 1951, with 101 Squadron being fully equipped by May, and a further squadron, No. 9 Squadron equipping by the end of the year. The production of the Canberra was accelerated as a result of the outbreak of the Korean War, orders for the aircraft increased and outpaced production capacity, as the aircraft was designated as a "super priority". A further five squadrons were able to be equipped with the Canberra by the end of 1952; however, production in the 1951–52 period had only been half of the level planned, due to shortages in skilled manpower, material, and suitable machine tools.

The Canberra replaced Mosquitos, Lincolns and Washingtons as bombers, showing a drastically improved performance, and proving to be effectively immune from interception during air defence exercises until the arrival of the Hawker Hunter. The Canberra also replaced the RAF's Mosquitos in the reconnaissance role, with the Canberra PR3 entering service in December 1952. The improved Canberra B6, with more powerful engines and a greater fuel capacity, started to supplement the B2s in the UK based squadrons of Bomber Command from June 1954, when they replaced 101 Squadrons B2s. This freed up older B2s to allow Canberra squadrons to form overseas, with bomber and reconnaissance Canberra wings forming in RAF Germany and on Cyprus, with squadrons also being deployed to the Far East.

The PR7 variant of the Canberra, equipped with longer, fuel-filled wings and the Avon 109 engines, executed a 1953 reconnaissance flight over the Soviet rocket launch and development site at Kapustin Yar, although the UK government has never admitted the existence of such a flight. Warned by either radar or agents inside the British government, the Soviets damaged and almost shot down the aircraft. Further reconnaissance flights are alleged to have taken place along, and over, the borders of the Soviet Union in 1954 under the code name Project Robin, using the Canberra B2 WH726. The USAF also used the Canberra for reconnaissance flights. The aircraft were no longer required after June 1956, following the introduction of the US Lockheed U-2 purpose-built reconnaissance aircraft; Project Robin was then terminated. These RAF Canberra overflights were later featured in the 1994 BBC Timewatch episode; "Spies in the Sky Included interviews with some of the Soviet MiG-15 pilots who had attempted to intercept them.

An important role for the new low-level force was tactical nuclear strike, using the Low Altitude Bombing System (LABS) to allow a nuclear bomb to be delivered from low level while allowing the bomber to escape the blast of the weapon. RAF Germany's force of four squadrons equipped with the B(I)6 and B(I)8 could carry US-owned Mark 7 nuclear bombs, while three squadrons based on Cyprus and one at Singapore were armed with British-owned Red Beard nuclear weapons.

During the Suez Crisis the RAF employed around 100 Canberras, flying conventional bombing and reconnaissance missions from airfields in Malta and Cyprus. A total of 278 Canberra sorties were flown, dropping 1,439 1000 lb (450 kg) bombs; however low-level strikes by smaller fighters were judged to be more effective than the bombing operations performed by both the Canberra and the Vickers Valiant. In addition, many of the bombs, intended to hit Egyptian airfields, missed their targets, failing to inflict much damage to the Egyptian Air Force or to badly demoralise the enemy. While interception of the Canberra was within the capabilities of Egypt's MiG-15s and MiG-17s, as shown by the interception of Canberras by MiG-15s prior to the Anglo-French invasion, these did not result in any losses. The only Canberra shot down during the Suez campaign was a PR7 shot down by a Syrian Gloster Meteor fighter on 6 November 1956, the last day of the war .

The RAF continued to operate the Canberra after 1972, employing it for reconnaissance (with Squadrons equipped with PR7s and PR9s being based at RAF Wyton in the UK and RAF Luqa in Malta). The PR9s were fitted with special LOROP (Long-Range Optical Photography) cameras, reportedly based on those used by the Lockheed U-2, to allow high-altitude of targets deep into Eastern Europe while flying along the inner German border, as well as infrared linescan cameras for low level night reconnaissance. The RAF used Canberras to search for hidden arms dumps using false-colour photography during Operation Motorman in July 1972, when the British Army re-took Irish republican held "no go areas" in Belfast and Londonderry. Canberras were used for reconnaissance during the Bosnian War during the 1990s, where they were used to locate mass graves and during the Kosovo War in 1999. They were also operated from Uganda during the First Congo War, where they were used to search for refugees. Small numbers of specially equipped Canberras were also used for signals intelligence, being operated by 192 Squadron and then 51 Squadron from 1953 to 1976.

During the Falklands War, a plan to supply two PR9s to the Chilean Air Force, and secretly operate them with RAF crews over the war zone, was abandoned for political reasons. The aircraft got as far as Belize before the operation was cancelled. The PR9 variant remained in service with No. 39 (1 PRU) Squadron until July 2006 for strategic reconnaissance and photographic mapping, seeing service in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and, up to June 2006, in Afghanistan. During a ceremony to mark the standing down of 39 (1 PRU) Squadron at RAF Marham on 28 July 2006, a flypast by a Canberra PR9 on its last ever sortie was conducted.

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the Australian government began reorganising the armed forces. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) developed Plan "D" for its postwar structure, built around the concept of a small, agile air arm employing leading edge technology. The RAAF decided to acquire the Canberra to replace or complement the Avro Lincoln, though fears were raised that the new design was not especially advanced. While Australia never introduced nuclear weapons into service, the Canberra's ability to carry such a payload was a factor in its acquisition; Australia's planned force of 48 Canberras, with the potential for being nuclear-armed, was viewed as far more potent and deterring than the RAAF's entire wartime forces of 254 heavy bombers. The first Australian-built Canberra first flew on 29 May 1953 at Avalon and was delivered to the RAAF for service trials a few weeks later. The Canberra entered Australian service in December 1953.

From July 1950 to July 1960, during the Malayan Emergency, Canberras from Australia, New Zealand and the UK were deployed into the Malaysia to fight against Communist guerillas. In 1967, the RAAF deployed eight Canberras from a squadron of B20s to the Vietnam War. The unit, No. 2 Squadron, was later commended for its performance by the United States Air Force. The Canberras were typically operated in the low-level bombing role, taking over South Vietnam's military regions III and IV responsibilities allowing USAF bombers to deploy their aircraft to the Ho Chi Minh trail. While USAF Canberras were equipped with .50 caliber machine guns or 20mm cannon for strafing, Australian Canberras were deployed to South Vietnam without guns, hence were deployed strictly for low level bombing missions. Upon their re-deployment from Vietnam in 1971, No. 2 Squadron had flown approximately 12,000 sorties and dropped 76,389 bombs, and lost two of their aircraft to missiles and ground fire during the course of the war.

The Swedish Air Force purchased two Canberras from the RAF in 1960 and had these modified to T11s by Boulton Paul. The aircraft were secretly modified in Sweden as espionage aircraft for eavesdropping on primarily Soviet, Polish and East German military radio transmissions, although this was not publicly admitted until 10 years later. The Canberras were given the designation Tp 52, and taken into service as "testing aircraft", until they were replaced by two Tp 85 Caravelles in 1971.

During the Indo-Pakistani Wars of the 1960s and 1970s, the Canberra was used by both sides. The most audacious use of the bomber was in the "Raid on Badin" during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, when the Indian Air Force sent in the Canberra to attack a critical Pakistani radar post in West Pakistan. The raid was a complete success, the radars in Badin having been badly damaged by the bombing and put out of commission. A later raid by the IAF was attempted on Peshawar Air base with the aim of destroying, amongst other targets, several Pakistani B-57 bombers, American-built Canberras. Due to poor visibility, a road outside of the base was bombed, instead of the runway where PAF B-57 bombers were parked.

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Indian Canberras flew a strategically important sortie against the Karachi oil tanks, this had the effect of helping the Indian Navy in their own operations, a series of missile boat attacks against the Pakistani coast.

The Argentine Air Force received 10 B62 bombers and two T64 trainers at the beginning of the 1970s, replacing the Avro Lincoln in the bomber role. Argentina retired its last Canberras in April 2000.

During the Falklands War in 1982, eight of them were deployed to Trelew, 670 miles (1,080 km) from the islands, to avoid congestion on the closer southern airfields. Although within operating range of the British task force, the Canberra was judged to be a limited threat due to its poor maneuverability compared with the British Sea Harriers.

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