The day Canada stopped worrying
and
learned to love the bomb
With the cancellation of the Avro Arrow, the RCAF found itself in a tough position, while the USA provided CIM-10 Bomarc surface-to-air missile and AIR-2A Genie air-air missile for Canadian CF-101 Voodoo, limiting its role as a shield for America was seen as an issue. Coupled with the serious risk of brain drain of its aerospace sector, something had to be done.
In what was probably one of the most controversial decision of the time, the RCAF approached Britain to obtain Avro Vulcan and negotiated with America to be an integral part of its nuclear strategy. ''If Canada is to be bombed by the USSR, we should at least have the capability to answer in kind" was the answer given each time this decision was questioned by the government and the press.
But having a nuclear bomber was nothing without a payload, and there was the sugar-coat to bring the politicians in line: designing a 100 % Canadian weapon delivery system, giving job to Canadians and insuring that the country would stay at the fore front of the aerospace sector.
Avro Canada and Bombardier would work together to design the weapon. Taking inspiration from both the Bomarc and Genie weapons currently in use in Canada, they designed an air-launched ramjet missile. After billions in investment and a decade of research and design on supersonic avionic, the Vampire Air-launched Cruise missile (ALCM) was finally tested. With a maximal range of 1000 miles and a maximal acceleration of Mach 3 if launched near Mach 1, the design was considered acceptable and the electronics, provided by IBM Canada, gave the missile a very accurate CAP of 100 feet.
While Canada greenlighted the missile production once receiving its first Vulcan, the main unresolved issues were about the nuclear warhead. After many rounds of negotiations, it was decided that an American W80 nuclear warhead would equip the Vampire missile, with a dual-key arrangement similar to the Bomarc and Genie W40 warheads. Fully included into the American strike plans, the missile was originally well received by the Americans but with the newer Soviet anti-missile systems, the missile speed was considered insufficient to accomplish its missions.
Canada embarked on the still experimental field of hypersonic missiles to insure that the next generation of Vampire missile could reach Mach 5 and by impossible to intercept. Delving into the still embryonic scramjet technology, the Avro-Bombardier consortium would try new designs and even buy scout solid booster to enable their experimental design to reach the supersonic speed necessary to allow scramjet engine usage. But the size of the design would end up too big for the Canadian Vulcan and while a land-based version could probably be designed, the army was uninterested and the RCAF absolutely refused.
While the Mark 2 design was quietly abandoned, the treasure trove of information and research allowed Avro-Bombardier to refine its original ramjet design. Their work would culminate with the Vampire Mark 3 supersonic missile, advanced electronics and avionic made the missile much more agile even at high speed, passive and active jamming equipments was added and the newer ramjet engine was both more compact and powerful. Capable of a maximal acceleration of Mach 3.5 if launched at Mach 0.9, it was capable of eccentric maneuvers if locked by Radar and a maximal range of 1500 miles, although a useful range of 1200 miles was calculated if provision for evasive maneuvers were added. With its ability to traverse Russian air space almost undetected and to avoid interception, the newer Vampire Mark 3 was officially adopted, allowing for the shelving of the old Mark 1.
But if Canada was armed with next generation missile, its aging Vulcan fleet was becoming an issue. Already on its fifth refit and modernization, some began wondering if replacing it with American B-1 Lancer or B-2 Spirit would not be a better idea. For a Canada that as learned to love the bomb, the choice is important if it want to keep its capability to rain death and destruction on its enemies.