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The Gloster Javelin was an interceptor aircraft that served with Britain's Royal Air Force in the late 1950s and most of the 1960s. It was a large T-tailed delta-wing aircraft designed for night and bad weather operations. This was the last aircraft to bear the Gloster name.
History
The Javelin began with a 1947 Air Ministry requirement for a high-performance night fighter that led to orders for prototypes under specification F.44/46 of two of the competing designs, the Gloster GA.5 and the de Havilland DH.110 which was also under consideration for the Royal Navy. When it appeared that the Gloster design would be ready sooner and would be simpler and cheaper to build, the de Havilland submission was rejected; though the company was to continue development as a private venture that eventually resulted in the de Havilland Sea Vixen. The aircraft had a distinctive appearance, its broad delta wings surmounted by a huge finned T-tail. The F.44/46 specification subsequently became F.4/48 related to an "operational requirement" OR.227.
The GA.5 first flew on the 26th November 1951 flown by test pilot Bill Waterman (two months after the prototype DH.110 took to the air), and protracted fight testing took place until 1956, when the first 14 production machines were delivered, designated F(AW) Mk.1, development and improvements continued, leading to small production runs of different models of the aircraft throughout the year.
By the end of 1956, the Javelin was up to a FAW.7 variant, which was the first to actually meet the specifications of the original Air Ministry requirement, and which was to become the definitive version of the aircraft (most of which were later altered to the FAW.9 standard). Indeed, the Javelin was evolving so quickly that deliveries of the FAW.8 began before FAW.7 production had ended. As a result, the final 80 FAW.7 aircraft went straight from the factory into storage, eventually flying after being remanufactured as FAW.9s. A total of 427 were produced in all variants, plus seven prototypes.
The Javelin entered service with the RAF in 1956 with No. 46 Squadron RAF based at RAF Odiham, England and at its peak (in the years 1959 to 1962) equipped 14 Squadrons. After 1962 numbers dropped rapidly and by 1964 only 4 Squadrons were flying the plane.
The closest that the RAF's Javelins came to combat was during the Malaysian Confronation with Indonesia from September 1963 until August 1966. Javelins of 60 Squadron, later joined by 64 Squadron operated out of RAF Tengah, Singapore flying combat patrols over the jungles of Malaysia. In 1964, an Indonesian Air Force C-130 Hercules crashed while trying to evade interception by a Javelin. During June 1967, following the disbandment of No. 64 Squadron RAF, 60 Squadron were deployed to Kai Tak, Hong Kong because of unrest in the colony during China's Cultural Revolution.
The last of the type was withdrawn from service in 1968, although one aircraft remained flying at Boscombe Down until January 24 1975. Ten examples are preserved in museums, none of them airworthy.
Variants
435 airframes was built, several of them converted to different marks (sometimes repeatedly).
- FAW.1: Initial version with Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire Sa.6 engines with 8,000 lbf (35.6 kN thrust each), British AI.17 radar, four 30 mm ADEN cannon in wings. 40 produced, and the seven prototypes were later fitted to this standard.
- FAW.2: Replaced AI.17 with U.S.-made Westinghouse AN/APQ-43 radar. 30 produced.
- T.3: Dual-control trainer version with no radar, bulged canopy for improved instructor visibility. All-moving tailplane, lengthened fuselage to compensate for altered center of gravity, adding additional internal fuel. Retained four cannon. 22 produced.
- FAW.4: Similar to FAW.2, but with vortex generators on wings for improved stall characteristics. 50 produced.
- FAW.5: Based on FAW.4, with revised wing structure incorporating additional fuel tanks, provision for missile pylons (never actually fitted). 64 produced.
- FAW.6: Combined FAW.2's American radar with the revised wing of the FAW.5. 33 produced.
- FAW.7: Introduced new Sa.7 engines with 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN) thrust each, powered rudder, extended rear fuselage. Armed with two 30 mm ADEN plus four Firestreak air-to-air missiles. 142 produced.
- FAW.8: Upgraded Sa.7R engines with reheat, raising thrust to 12,300 lbf (54.7 kN) thrust above 20,000 ft (6,100 m); at lower altitudes, the inefficient afterburner actually reduced thrust while increasing fuel consumption. New 'drooped' wing leading edge and auto-stabilizer for better handling.
- FAW.9: 76 FAW.7s refitted with the revised wing of the Mk.8.
- FAW.9R: 40 Mk.9s refitted with in-flight refueling probes.
Several variants were proposed, but not produced, including recce versions, a fighter bomber version with underwing panniers for bombs, and a supersonic variant with area-ruled fuselage, thinner wings, and a new tail.
Specifications (Gloster Javelin FAW Mk 9)
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"Gloster Javelin"