A series of assumptions: a Britwank on a budget?

[Riain]

By 1970 a pair problems had begun to emerge that put Britain in a particularly difficult position. The first was Anti Ballistic Missiles, throughout the 60s the US had been developing an ABM system initially known as Safeguard using the Spartan long range exoatmospheric interceptor missile and the Sprint short range atmospheric interceptor missile. While the capabilities of the system became more known the aims for it’s deployment were wound back, initially from a CONUS wide city protection in 1966 to a more limited system to protect US nuclear forces in 1969 known as Sentinel. The Soviet Union was known to be developing ABMs also and talks between the US and USSR to limit ABM deployment had been mooted as far back as 1967. ABMs placed the UK in a particularly precarious position, with each Resolution class SSBN carrying a mere 16 warheads(1) while the strategic backup of Blue Steel V bombers had been retired early(2) due to the defence cuts following the devaluation of 1967.

The second problem was that NATO ASW strategy for a major war against the Soviet had developed into closing the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap, meaning that in time of crisis leading up to war and in war itself this area would be flooded with NATO and Soviet submarines and ASW forces seeking to locate one another. The range of British A2K Polaris, whilst more than the 1,500nm of the USN version it was less than the 2,000nm required to enable patrols outside the GIUK gap. (3) This meant that exactly when it was most important to remain undetected the UKs SSBNs would be surrounded by NATO and Soviet subs, ASW ships, MPA and helicopters intent of locating one another.

1. IOTL Polaris A3TK had 3 warheads per missile, so an R class had 48 warheads.
2. IOTL Blue Steel was planned to retire as late as 1972-74 and actually retired in 1969.
3. IOTL Polaris A3TK had a range of 2,500nm, Chevaline reduced that to 1,950nm

 

[Riain]

With CVA01 back on the radar (1) other programmes that were to support it needed reappraisal. The only survivor of the CVA01 programme was a lone Type 82 Destroyer leader, and this ship was less than it should have been. Laid down in 1967 it was planned to serve a dual purpose of testing new systems including the Sea Dart SAM, Ikara ASW missile, Mk8 gun and Olympus Gas Turbine as well as Task Group command functions. However with the cancellation of CVA01 had come the British withdrawal from the Anglo-Dutch Type 988 3D radar, which was integral to the operation of the Sea Dart as it provide both search and target indication. Indeed the Ark Royal refit did not even include the older but highly capable Type 984 3D radar of the type already fitted to the Victorious, Eagle and Hermes, to its great detriment. No single British radar in service could replicate these functions so the Type 82 replaced this new and innovative radar with the Type 965P-AKE2 ‘Bedstead’ long range search radar and the fast scanning Type 992Q radar for target indication with Sea Dart, both of 50s vintage and well behind the state of the art in 1970. This same dual radar setup,d riven by the need for target indication for Sea Dart, had been inherited by the Type 42 Destroyer, the first of which had been laid down at the start of the year as a large class of Air Defence destroyers.

To their credit the Dutch had continued with the development of the Broomstick radar following the British withdrawal from the project and had ordered a pair of DLGs to utilise it. The British approached the Dutch government seeking to purchase large numbers of the AN/SPS-01 3D radar for fitment to CVA01 & 02 and integration into the Type 82 DLG and Type 42 DDG.(2) The Type 42 design was also looked at, it was made smaller than hoped during design in a short-sighted effort to reduce costs, lacking the understanding that the primary driver of modern warship cost was the sensors, guided weapons system and associated control systems. All that was achieved by making the Type 42 design smaller was a reduction of the Sea Dart magazine capacity and potentially making these ships less seaworthy than the original, larger concept. With a gap between building the lead ship of the class and its sister ships due to the order from Argentina, the opportunity was taken to enlarge the design prior to ordering the next ships for the RN.(3)

1. Pun intended
2. IOTL Invincible class Batch 2 Type 42 were ordered in 1973 and 76 with the Type 1022 2D radar, derived from the Dutch LW-08 radar with a British antenna
3. IOTL Batch 3 Type 42 were 50’ longer and first ordered in 1978

 

[Riain]

Britain watched as the MRA group, formed in 1968, ebbed and flowed and participants came and went. Canada left for political reasons and the Belgians bought Mirage 5s, followed by the Netherlands who wanted something smaller, less complex and more suited to dog-fighting. This refreshed memories of recent attempts at collaboration with France with the advanced trainer and the AFVG, and how the UKVG would need to be merged with the EWR-Fairchild-Hiller A400 AVS Advanced Vertical Strike in order to bring Germany and Italy on board as partners. Britain already had the TSR2 in service for the long range strike role and the Harrier in service for the Close Air Support role, any design that expanded into these roles at the behest of partners would compromise the performance of the RAFs aircraft in their desired roles. Further the British government was dubious of the German claim of a requirement for 600 aircraft, as Germany had far less F104Gs in their inventory and had recently ordered some 88 RF4E to fill the recce requirement, and saw it as a ploy to get more design influence over the aircraft.(1)

In 1971 the Heath Cabinet made the decision to go it alone with the UKVG, with a requirement for some 300 aircraft including conversion trainers this would provide sufficient production to cover the expected development costs. This decision did come with some strict caveats, in particular while the air-frame was all new the electronics and engines were to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary to avoid a repeat of the problems which plagued the TSR2. This was not a serious impediment, the monopulse radar in the TSR2, which could trace it’s ancestry back through the Blue Parrot of the Buccaneer to the AIRPASS of the Lightning would provide an excellent base for an Airborne Intercept radar while Rolls Royce was about to begin testing a new 3 shaft modular engine that was perfect for the application.(2)

Despite going it alone the Heath Government was adamant that this aircraft, which had assumed the moniker ‘Jaguar’(3) after consultation with the car firm, must be successful on the export market. Most British combat aircraft exports in the last decade had been refurbished ex RAF Hunters and Canberras, purchased specifically because they were not state of the art and therefore inexpensive and easy to maintain. The only new build exports in the last decade had been 62 Lightnings and 16 Buccaneers to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and South Africa. Saudi Arabia had incorporated an extensive maintenance support contract with a private firm Air Services and had achieved good serviceability rates. In contrast Kuwait has not and the serviceability rates for it’s Lightnings was extremely low, an experience shared to a large extent by Jordan with it’s ex RAF aircraft. The British decided that it would offer Government to Government agreements modeled on US Security Assistance programmes in order to increase the export appeal of it’s aircraft. This would give foreign governments direct access to RAF supply chains, training and repair facilities as if they were RAF units, on not for profit basis and at no cost to the British taxpayer. This agreement could even extend to the purchase of major items of military equipment, where the British government would arrange the acquisition contracts complete with the the required spares and ancillary equipment. It was hoped that such an arrangement would mean other recipients of British hardware would not be dissatisfied the way Kuwait was, but South Africa was starting to see Kuwait's dissatisfaction with the Lightning as their opportunity.

1. IOTL once workshare was allocated and design office and first flight location was agreed to West Germany dropped it's MoU from 600 to 324 Tornados
2. IOTL the RB.199 began testing in Britain in Sept 1971, by then Britain was in the MRCA consortium
3. IOTL the name given to the Anglo-French advanced trainer that grew into a tactical strike/interdiction due to the failure of the P1154, TSR2 and F111K

 

[Riain]

By the middle of 1971 the design update of CVA01 had progressed far enough that the Govenrment placed an order for it’s construction,(1) assisted by locating some of the long lead items acquired for the original CVA01 in five years earlier and the carrier design expertise maintained by developing the helicopter-command cruiser. Some of the requirements had changed in the preceding five years, having area defence SAMs on carriers was no longer considered useful so the Sea Dart was replaced by the Sea Wolf system in the early stages of testing for fitment for a new class of ASW destroyers. Area air defence would now be undertaken by the Type 42 destroyers, 5 of which were ordered to accompany the the Type 82 and Type 42 already under construction. The deck area was maximised as much as displacement would allow, rather than being limited to a small growth over the Eagle to be politically acceptable in 1964. The big change between 1966 and 1971 promised to have a revolutionary impact on carrier operations, the steam powerplant to run the 3 shafts would be replaced on each shaft by a pair of Olympus Gas Turbines as being fitted to the Type 82 and Type 42 under construction. These engines, with their repair by replacement maintenance schedule, would free these ships from costly and time consuming refits to re-line the boilers, a task that got more frequent as the ship aged. This was expected to increase ship availability from 65-70% to 75-80%, meaning the RN would have both of these carriers available to them 50-60% of the time. The installation of GTs was reasonably trouble free and their light, compact nature freed up displacement tonnage for increases in flight deck area among other things. The GT hot exhaust would provide the heat to run steam generators to power the catapults and other things this ship used steam for. This was another advantage as it decoupled declining catapult power with increasing ship speed, indeed the faster the ship went the more steam would be available for the catapults.

The strict, government imposed, design discipline place the the VG Jaguar was paying off in an accelerated project schedule. With no distractions work was progressing quickly on a flying prototype, the engine was scaled up slightly to deliver the target of 20,000lb of thrust for the expected 40,000lbs weight of the aircraft. A TSR2 radar was given a 36” antenna and tuned for air to air work, taking in Ferranti’s experience with the AWG11 in the RN’s Phantoms. Indeed the Phantom had become somewhat of a performance benchmark for the Jaguar in terms of it’s flight endurance, speed, air to air weapons loadout and it’s lack of agility and general in efficiency. The design team believed it could comfortably exceed the Phantoms performance elegently and efficiently with the technological advances in aviation since the Phantom and for that matter Lightning and TSR2 were designed. No longer was Mach 2 a goal that could only be reached at the expense of other performance parameters, it was a basic expectation while seeking other capability goals such as endurance, agility and serviceability.

In the last few years the weapons to equip the VG Jaguar had been under development, the Red Top was further refined, stretched and given SARH while the Taildog had morphed into the SRAAM a highly agile IR missile using thrust vectoring. It was expected that the SRAAM would arm the Jaguar and RN Phantoms although the Sparrow would remain in RN service due to the Phantom being designed to carry it conformaly. In addition the Jaguar would be expected to carry all the air to surface weapons in the RAF inventory from 190kt WE.177B through AS30, AS37 MARTEL guided missiles to cluster and iron bombs and unguided rockets.

1. IOTL the Conservative Government ordered the HMS Invincible in April 1973.

 

[Riain]

The progress of talks between the Soviet Union and the United States concerning an Anti ballistic Missile Treaty had clarified the British problem with regards to their Polaris missile submarine fleet. Moscow would be defended by a maximum of 100 ABM interceptor missiles, far in excess of the 16 warheads a Resolution class submarine carried on patrol. While the TSR2 armed with 190kt WE.177B nuclear weapons provided a useful backup to the R class SSBNs it was clear that a comprehensive solution was required. Options such as building more SSBNs or fitting the existing Polaris missiles with decoys would not solve this problem, there were simply more ABMs than British warheads. Nor would this address the other problem, namely that the SSBN patrol areas were too limited. The answer had to be putting more warheads to sea and increase the range at which they could be fired.(1)

Fortunately one such missile existed and another was in the final stage of development. The first was the A3T version of the Polaris missile which had replaced the A2 that Britain in production, which had 2,500nm range and a Multiple Reentry vehicle that spread 3 x 200kt warheads in a pattern. This would triple the number of warheads an R class SSBN cold carry to 48. The next was the Poseidon C3, that was about to enter service with the USN. This missile was developed to utilise all of the possible space in an SSBN missile tube by removing the locating rings and fireglass lining and other unnecesary fittings. The result was a missile 20 inches greater in diameter, 3 feet long and 30,000lbs heavier thus able to match the Polaris A3 2,500nm range. The big advance over Polaris was the Post Boost Vehicle known as a bus which could carry up to 14 40kt warheads and target them independently of one another withing an oblong 200 miles long and 100 miles wide in the direction of flight. This appeared to solve the ABM problem at a stroke by giving each SSBN 224 warheads with which to overwhelm the 100 missiles around Moscow from a patrol area outside the GIUK gap.

Like all things British and nuclear there were a number of factors against the simple adoption of Poseidon and perhaps going with Polaris A3T that caused much discussion. Arguments about cost of the missile raged back and forth but ultimately ended up in a stalemate because there was no getting past that the Polaris A2 had to be replaced. In addition while the Polaris A3 may be cheaper to buy than the Poseidon and certainly require less work to the boats it would be expensive work done to the warhead delivery system as it had not been designed to penetrate ABM defences whereas that on Poseidon had been. As the arguments continued over weeks and months it became apparent that there was no cheap and easy option, however one stood head and shoulders over the other as a solution to more of the problems Britain was facing in this issue.

1. IOTL the Chevaline did the opposite, less warheads at less range but made a PBV ‘bus’ where none existed before

 

[Riain]

1972 saw the final retirement of those icons of British aviation, the V Bombers, although by then the last survivors, originally built as Victor B1s were relegated to the unglamorous but crucial inflight refueling tanker role. The nuclear deterrence role had been relinquished to the RN way back in 1967(1) and the TSR2 had taken on the theatre-strategic role leading to the retirement for the B2 Vulcans and Victors.(2) However it was the transfer of ex-BOAC VC10s and their cnversion into tankers rather than the Victor B2s that was the final nail in the coffin.(3) The early VC10 K2 were proving so successful that it was decided that the 14 C1s should receive a limited tanker conversion(4), fitting HDUs to the wingtips but foregoing the High-flow Mk17 HDU and fuselage fuel tanks of the K2, these tanker transports would be known a C1K.(5)

The discreet reorientation of the RNs more powerful units away from the Far East and leaving that theatre with whatever was left did not lead to the negative diplomatic consequences Britain feared. This was not a result of effective British action, rather the war between Pakistan and India had shown the two alliance systems that Britain was a key member of East of Suez to be worthless. Pakistan had sought CENTO and SEATO assistance and not received it, leading to the loss of East Pakistan in December 1971 and Pakistan’s withdrawal from SEATO in 1972. The war in Vietnam that was partly fought under SEATO auspices was finding down with troop withdrawals by SEATO members USA and Australia, although the ferocious bombing campaign continued apace. In this chaotic environment nobody really noticed that for much of the time Britain’s naval presence in the Far East was headed by a single helicopter-command cruiser and that the Commando carrier Albion’s main role appeared to be moving men and equipment out of the area.

Despite Britain wishing to withdraw from her world role events kept pulling her back in. The ongoing tensions between Britain and Guatemala over the looming independence of British Honduras flared up into the threat of invasion again, provoking a British response. The carrier Ark Royal was ordered to head towards the Caribbean and ‘show the flag’ with a demonstration of force and after a rapid transit toward the area four Buccaneer were launched, a pair of Maxi tankers and a pair to fly over Belmopan. After a long flight which included a brush with NORAD F102s near Florida, the Buccaneers undertook several low passes over the city making a clear message before heading home to ‘mother’.

While the TSR2 production line wound down the first Jaguar prototype took to the air. The need for this aircraft was becoming acute, in recent years RAF Germany had closed two bases and 3 of the 4 remaining were in the far west of the country. With the short range of both the Harrier and Lightning RAF Gutersloh was packed to capacity while the location of the remaining bases would mean the Lightning operating at the limits of it’s range in the event of a Soviet attack. The range of the Jaguar would mean a major reorientation of RAF Germany to the 3 westernmost bases, drastically reducing vulnerability while increasing operational effectiveness.

1. IOTL this was relinquished in 1969
2. ITOL the Vulcan remained in service until replaced by the Tornado in the early 80s
3. IOTL Victor 24 B2 were converted to K2 with the first entering service in March 1972
4. IOTL only 13 of 14 VC10 C1 were converted, in the 80s
5. IOTL 5 VC10 and 4 Super VC10 were converted to 3 point tankers with main deck tanks, another 5 Super combis were converted to 3 point but no main deck tanks, in the 80s

 

[Riain]

All the talk around the decision between Polaris A3 and Poseidon was really no decision at all, the fact of the matter was by the time any project was begun the Polaris A3 would be out of production and in the process of being replaced by the USN by 1980. This left the Poseidon, which entered US service the previous year as the only choice, however this led to a whole new set of problems particular to the British situation.

Throughout the 60s Britain had constructed less than 300(1) new nuclear weapons of two basic types; the strategic RE.179 and the tactical WE.177A & B. With 14 warheads on each Poseidon a single SSBN would carry 224, even at the lower end of 10 warheads per missile adopting the US version of Poseidon would require at least 480 new warheads to be constructed for a fleet that currently had about 50. Leaving aside the massive cost of such an undertaking it appeared to be beyond Britain’s reach in terms of fissile material and industrial capacity to produce. In typical British fashion they worked backwards so the suit was cut to fit the cloth.

Since 1960 British nuclear warheads had been an an evolutionary development path. After testing in Nevada in 1962 the Cleo primary design was improved into the Jennie used in the RE.179 and WE.177, while the W59 derived Simon secondary used in the RE.179 had been downsized to the Reggie and used in the WE.177B.(2) Any new British warhead would be a development of these components and the total number must use less than the 500kg of plutonium produced under the last Government authorization in 1967. This placed the number of warheads the British could produce at between 200 and 250, although these would be considerably larger and more powerful than the W68 of the US Poseidon. Four or five, albeit large, warheads on a Poseidon would leave a considerable amount of throw-weight that could be utilised for either increased range or payload. In the end it was decided to extend the range as far as the guidance system would allow and remain accurate and then load the bus with as many decoys as could be accommodated. This was the recommendation put forward to the Heath Government for a decision.

1. IOTL Britain built ~160 WE.177 A & B and at least 144 ET.317 200kt warhead for their 48 in commission Polaris A3TK, probably closer to 150 with spares between 1963 and 1970
2. IOTL the Simon was used in the WE.177B and the Reggie in the ET.317 initially

 

[Riain]

By 1973 it was obvious that Kuwait’s efforts to operate the Lightning had been a failure, without the comprehensive maintenance that Air Service provided Saudi Arabia these 14 aircraft were effectively grounded. In South Africa the voluntary arms embargo of 1964 had been strengthened in 1970 and it appeared that the next step would be a mandatory embargo. The number of countries able to supply new military equipment to South Africa that were also willing to defy the voluntary had dwindled to France, the old ally Britain even refused to replace a Buccaneer that had crashed on the delivery flight in 1965. South Africa approached Kuwait with an offer to buy her Lightnings and all associated equipment, and offer which Kuwait was willing to accept. As the Kuwaiti and South African Lightnings were both definitive Mk3 versions South Africa would have little trouble integrating these into her existing fleet. However Kuwait was not insensitive to the political pressure of the voluntary arms embargo and wished to avoid a very public ferry flight that would pass through many African countries hostile to the apartheid regime.

A compromise was reached and a small team of South Africans began putting together a ‘crew’ in the grand tradition of heist movies. A disassembly team made up of aircraft technicians from all over the world including ex RAF and BAC personnel began breaking the Lightnings down to major components in plain sight over a period of weeks and months. What was not conducted in plain sight was the careful packing of these components for transport so they could be discretely spirited away. Some were flown out of Kuwait through circuitous routes to South Africa while others flew more directly. The fuselages were loaded onto 3 different ships at night and taken to South Africa by sea while other components were taken by land to neighboring countries and transported to South Africa from there.

The ruse was maintained when these components arrived in South Africa. They were taken to Port Elizabeth where they are reassembled and flown to AFB Makhado to join the other Lightnings. Only the most dedicated local plane spotters noticed that as the year wound down there appeared to be more Lightnings on the base that previously. The only official acknowledgement that South Africa had acquired more Lightnings and a discreet government announcement that the SAAF had stood up a wing of Lightnings consisting of two fighting squadrons and an operational conversion unit flight. It was left up to others to figure out what this meant and how it occurred.

 

[Riain]

The new year also saw the unveiling of BACs new big airliner, the BAC 311(1). This aircraft was the culmination of more than a decade of political wrangling, indeed it’s roots could be said to stretch all the way back to 1958 with the industry consolidation report and the genesis of the ‘class of 64’ BAC111, Trident and VC10. Soon after their initial introductions all three of these airliners offered significant stretches of their original aircraft,the first being the BAC VC10 Super 200 going from 151 to 212 seats. As a 4 engine aircraft the VC10 was not limited by the distance to diversion airfields like 3 and 2 engine aircraft and as it carried 23 more people than the 707 and DC8 was selling quite well. The BAC111-500 going from 89 to 119 seats from 1967 moved moving it into Trident territory. However in the same year the Trident 3 was introduced with a capacity of 180 seats and increased range which meant that it was not in the BAC111-500 class any longer.

That these three aircraft were not in competition with each other was increasingly being seen within industry, airline and government circles as beneficial. As far back as 1965, a British government study known as the Plowden Report, had found British aircraft production costs to be between 10% and 20% higher than American counterparts due to shorter production runs, which was in part due to the fractured European market. To overcome this factor, the report recommended the pursuit of multinational collaborative projects between the region's leading aircraft manufacturers. Within Britain the introduction of the Trident 3 in 1967 put paid to proposed 190 seat BAC 211, an entirely new aircraft despite the nomenclature, as it would only interfere with the steady if unspectacular selling Trident. Given that the only possible expansion of BAC’s big VC10 was to introduce a lower deck with an additional 40-80 seats it was decided to design a new big aircraft. The result was a widebody, 8 abreast airliner powered by a pair of RR RB.211 engines, with 220-260 seats. HSA, who had been developing their own HDN 100 260 seat widebody proposal with Nord and Breguet was instead invited to participate with BAC, an offer which they accepted.(2)

The BAC 311 was the first widebody twin onto the market,(3) following the 4 engine Boeing 747 and the trijet Douglas DC10 and Lockheed Tristar, but before the forthcoming Franco-German Airbus A300. As had occurred in the recent past being first paid off with the BAC311 quickly winning sales in the short-medium haul market that was uneconomical for the bigger American trijets.

1. IOTL the BAC311 was expected to receive type certification in 1974
2. ITOL HSA and the HDN 100 was involved with the genesis of Airbus with Government support from 1967 to 1969
3. IOTL the 1970 Conservative government did not support the BAC311 and it foundered

 

[Riain]

Building full sized aircraft carriers is an expensive business and prone to huge cost escalation that can be the ruination of Ministers and even Governments. The Heath Government knew this and was determined to limit the risks of this occurring to them, determined not to be penny wise and pound foolish. They undertook a carefully scheduled acquisition programme for the items they needed for the two carriers as well as their escorts, taking advantage of the considerable discounts available when purchasing in bulk. Their initial order for the Type 988 radar from the Dutch had been for four units while the order for 12 Olympus engines for the carriers was batched with the 10 required for the five Type 42 destroyers also ordered in 1971. This harked back to the days of the ‘Two Power Standard’ prior to WW1 which removed the Royal Navy from the vagaries of funding from year to year. Enough had been done that by mid 1973 the Government was able to place an order for the second CVA to begin construction the day after the current ship was launched,(1) secure in the knowledge that everything was in place.

The first of the four Type 988 radars that had been ordered, along with a pair for the Dutch, went to sea in the HMS Bristol(2) for a series of trials. This Type 82 Guided Missile Destroyer Leader had been ordered in the aftermath of the original cancellation of the CVA 01 was the lead ship for a large number of different weapons and system due to enter service. As a result she did not deploy alongside other ships in the RN but began a year of trials, testing and validating the many new systems this transformation ship bought into service.

Another long anticipated piece of equipment entering the trials and acceptance stage in 1973 was the Jaguar fighter-bomber.(3) Designed for maneuverability along the lines of the F14 rather than high performance at low level this single seat air superiority and ground attack cold best be described at efficient. A pair of compact, 3 shaft RB.199 engines of 19,000lb thrust(4) gave the 40-45,000lb class fighter a greater than unity thrust level on 2/3 full tanks. Yet these engines were the most fuel efficient afterburning turbofans in the world, giving the compact but powerful Jaguar a flight endurance of 3 hours when carrying slim, ‘supersonic’ drop tanks. The TSR2 derived radar give a long range and look-down capability while a mach sweep indicator automatically swept the wings to the most efficient angle for the flight regime, unlike the F111 which had 4 settings to be chosen by the pilot in the heat of combat. Armed with four Blue Jay SARH developments of the Red Top(5), 2 carried semi-conformally on the fuselage, and four SRAAM dogfight missiles(6) promised to make this aircraft lethal. The initial production batch had been ordered and was due to be delivered in the next year.

This was also the year that the Israeli Chieftain connection paid off in terms of export business with the first delivery of Chieftain Mk3/3P to Iran against ongoing requirement for over 2,000 tanks.(7) The Shah was shaping up not just as an export customer but also a development partner for advanced versions of the Chieftain that, like the Flakpanzer Falcon sponsored by the Netherlands, could end up in British service.(6)

1. IOTL Illustrious was ordered a year before Invincible was launched 76 and 77 respectively
2. IOTL SEPECAT Jaguars entered RAF service for trials and OCU in 1973
3. IOTL Bristol had Type 50s vintage 965 and 992 radars of very poor performance
4. IOTL early RB.199s had ~15,000lbs of thrust, but were very efficient
5. IOTL Blue Jay Km5 was the name of the radar guided Firestreak/Red Top development canceled in 1958
6. IOTL Taildog-SRAAM was downgraded to technology demonstrator in 1974
7. IOTL the British never deployed a SPAAG

 

[Riain]

Unsurprisingly the Cabinet recoiled in horror at the price to ‘ABM proof’ the submarine nuclear missile deterrent, estimated to be One Billion Pounds.(1) Over weeks and months the Ministers came to terms with the fact that their freedom of action was limited in this area. The Polaris A2 had been replaced in production by the A3 even before Britain had received hers, with the A3 now out of production and to be out of service British missiles would be ‘orphans’, increasingly difficult to maintain outside of the US supply system. They concurred with the recommendation that Britain utilise her own warhead development and maximize range and decoy load rather than follow the USN route of 10-14 warheads per missile. On the question that using all the available plutonium on Poseidon warheads would leave none for any RAF weapons it was noted that existing RE.179 warheads could be repurposed for aircraft bombs much larger than anything currently in the RAF inventory.(2) The Cabinet gave approval for this project, named Chevaline, to proceed in July and announced it Parliament in August.(3)

In October of that year an event occurred that long since has been recognised as being the end of the Post War era. On the 6th the combined force of Egypt and Syria attacked Israel during the feast of Yom Kippur, crossing the Suez Canal and advancing in the Golan Heights. Caught unprepared and unmobilised Israel fought back hard but faced several surprises in the form of anti tank missiles and integrated mobile SAMs and AA guns causing serious losses to Israeli aircraft and tanks. The situation was so dire, particularly in the Golan Heights, that Israel prepared to use nuclear weapons in her defence, an even that prompted the US to match the Soviet Union’s efforts and undertake huge airlift to supply her client Israel with the materiel she needed to win the war. As the war toward it’s third week the Arab members of OPEC lead by Saudi Arabia announced a 5% cut in oil production, followed two days later by an oil embargo on perceived supporters of Israel including Britain and the US. Britain, along with most of Western Europe imported 80% of her oil from the Middle east and as a result refused to let US aircraft engaged in the airlift to Israel land at British controlled airfields. In Europe only Portugal assisted the US by allowing the use of facilities in the Azores, however this was enough and after 19 days of vicious fighting Israel had prevailed.

1. IOTL Chevaline went over time and budget and is estimated to have cost 1 billion pounds
2. IOTL ~48 'Reggie' secondaries made redundant by Chevaline were re used in WE.177C bombs
3. IOTL Chevaline upgrade to Polaris A3TK was kept secret by Heath and remained so partly by virtue of political circumstances until 1979 when the spending could no longer be hidden.

 

[Riain]

In the wake of the Arab-Israeli War, oil embargo and production cuts oil prices, which had risen about 2% annually for decades jumped 300% in five months while production was cut by 25% creating petrol shortages and fights at petrol stations. There was even talk of rationing in Britain using coupons leftover from WW2 while the CPI jumped some 20%. The onset of change was so sudden and so drastic that many people had no idea what to do, least of all the British voting public in the General Election held in February 1974. Both Labour and the Conservatives fell short of a majority and with the Conservatives unwilling to form a coalition government with the Liberals Labour’s Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister for a second time at the head of the first minority government in Britain since 1929.

Minority, coalition governments in the Westminster system are not prone to court controversy, lest their fragile and unnatural coalitions fracture and they lose their grip on power. As a result in Defence the year was on ‘autopilot’, CVA01 was launched and the next day CVA02 laid down using the material accumulated during the previous year, the next batch of Jaguars was delivered and another planned order confirmed while the Chevaline project continued unhindered. The big event in British foreign affairs was the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, where RAF TSR2 and Lightning were based and nuclear weapons stored. However this state of affairs in British politics did not last long, a General Election was called for October 10, the first time 2 general elections had been held in the same year since 1910. The result was a Labour victory with a majority in the Commons of a mere two seats, but a majority nonetheless, ending 8 months of political inaction.

 

[Riain]

With a new year and a new, majority, Government came a new Defence White Paper, named after Minister of Defence Mason. A telling statement, buried deep in the White Paper’s many pages, showed how the Heath Government’s decision to build a pair of aircraft carriers was now driving Defence policy rather than policy driving acquisition. The White paper noted that while any NATO country can contribute an Armoured Brigade or a Fighter Wing only Britain in all of European NATO can contribute a Strike Carrier Battle Group. This was a subtle acknowledgement of an adoption of a Naval and Peripheral Strategy as Britain’s contribution to NATO, at the expense of RAFG and BAOR is necessary.(1) However if Britain was stuck with Strike Carrier she would make the most of them, so apart from some residual forces on Cyprus the British presence in the Mediterranean, a British lake for centuries, would be withdrawn and largely disbanded. Given the increased availability of Gas Turbine carriers it was announced that HMS Eagle would be retired as soon as the refit and building schedule of the new CVAs would allow it. Other major ships to go as a result of this review were the cruiser HMS Blake and Commando carrier HMS Bulwark, however HMS Ark Royal’s imminent retirement had long been planned.

The RAF also suffered cuts, with half of the 29 strong Belfast fleet being retired and the remainder amalgamated into a single, large squadron.(2) This was the tone of the review for the RAF, with units withdrawn from the Far and Near East, wings or squadrons disbanded while filling up RAFG and Strike Command Wings and Squadrons to get economise on Headquarters. The number of units in BAOR was also reduced, however this was presented as an increase in REFORGER strength. The overall trend could be called downsizing by modernisation, with old equipment being retired and units reduced faster than new equipment was acquired. There was considerable continuity as well as change, including the confirmation of a new class of large ASW frigates and more Type 42 destroyers as well as the ongoing acquisition of Jaguar fighters, while the commitment to the nuclear deterrent meant the continuation of the Chevaline projet.

The Mason review also formalised into policy the diplomatic and commercial reality that in these troubled times the Shah of Iran’s tank requirements were driving tank development in Britain. With the failure of the US-German MBT-70 project in 1970 and the US decision to go it alone in 1971 the Germans approached Britain as a prospective development partner for a next generation tank, utilising the development work already done with the MBT-70 project. Simultaneously the Iranians were working on the FV4030 series of AFVs, based on the Chieftain tank in three phases. Phase 1 was an improved Chieftain Mk5 with an 850hp engine,(3) fully automatic controller for the TN12 gearbox, a 50 imp gal fuel capacity increase, thickened underbelly mine armour and shock absorbers fitted to the front and rear suspension units. This vehicle offered the opportunity for a significant upgrade path for the existing British Chieftain fleet. Phase 2 incorporated the Chieftain hull front and turret casting. The rear of the hull was reconfigured to accept a new power pack comprising Rolls-Royce 30 litre CV12 1200 HP engine,(4) David Brown TN37 transmission improved Super Horstmann suspension, new final drives and tracks. Britain had no direct interest in this tank, however it would foster the development of the new engine of greatly increased power and development potential and it’c accompanying transmission. Phase 3 represented a completely new-MBT incorporating Burlington armour to the hull and turret, as tested on the FV4211 prototype from 1971. The rear of the hull similar in design to the Phase 2 but with hydrogas suspension, improved command & control and new commander's day/night sight. Weighing these two options carefully the Wilson government noted the drastic cost increase and diverging US and German requirements of the MBT-70 programme compared to the logical and beneficial development path of the FV4030 and decided to undertake the Future-MBT project with Iran using the FV4030 family of tanks, with Phase 3 F-MBT becoming known as MBT-80.(5)

1. IOTL the naval contribution was ASW forces in the Eastern Atlantic
2. IOTL the RAF disposed of all it’s 10 Belfasts in 1976 as a result of the Mason review.
3. IOTL 4030 Phase 1 kept the L60 with 750hp
4. IOTL the RR CV12 was 26 litres, a big jump from the L60s 19 litre capacity
5. IOTL Britain signed on to the F-MBT project with Germany

 

[Riain]

Air resources within the Canadian Forces had suffered from a long period of neglect and downsizing during the late 1960s and early 1970s that led to the aging of much of their military equipment. In the early 1970s the government came under increasing pressure from its NATO allies to redress this imbalance. During the 1970s, the Canadian Forces was tasked with four primary military duties; air defence of North America as part of NORAD, anti-submarine and related duties in the North Atlantic as part of NATO, a small role within the overall land-force structure of NATO in Western Europe, and the specialist role of reinforcing Norway with one brigade and all required air, sea and other support that might be needed for that mission (collectively known as "CAST"). With the exception of air transport, equipment for all of these tasks was deemed to be lacking. This period came to an end in November 1975 after the governing Liberal Party of Canada's tenth National Convention saw a policy reversing defence budget cutbacks in the early 1970s and the beginning of a modernization process across the entire Canadian Forces structure; this followed a decision in September 1975 that saw all air resources within the Canadian Forces merged into a new entity called Air Command (AIRCOM). As there had been little military capital expenditure over the prior five years, modernizing the forces would be an expensive process. In order to lower fiscal spending for the ambitious program, a series of individual procurement projects were proposed to be spread out over the five-year period from 1977 to 1982.

 

[Riain]

Once the decision had been made to undertake the project and spend the money actually developing the British Poseidon missile(1) was easy, as far as adapting an American nuclear missile for British requirements is. The missile itself, including the PBV bus, were fully developed and merely needed loading with the warheads and decoy mix Britain wished to employ. It was decided to load each PBV with five warheads each to utilise the 500kg of plutonium produced from the 1967 authorisation for a total of 240 warheads.(2) Calculations had shown that the Poseidon guidance system maintained accuracy beyond it’s stated 2,500nm out to 3,000nm but past that accuracy dropped off precipitously. Calculating these two figures gave Britain the weight allowance for decoys, which in the event was quite generous.

For the Poseidon C3K warhead the British developed a new ‘super hardened’ primary named ‘Harriet’ and mated it to the Reggie secondary from the WE.177B(3) to give a warhead yield of 225kt. As the USN withdrew Polaris A1 and A2 in favour of Poseidon the Chevaline warhead became the most powerful on any American SLBM. For the Chevaline project the British developed three-dimensional quartz phenolic (3DQP) a phenolic-based material composed of a quartz cloth material impregnated with a phenolic resin and hot-pressed. When cured, 3DQP can be machined in the same way as metals and is tough and fire-resistant. This material 'hardens' the RV protecting the nuclear warhead against high-energy neutrons emitted by exo-atmospheric ABM bursts before re-entry. While the traffic in nuclear technology arising from the US-UK 1958 MDA usually went one way Britain was always diligent in providing something important in return. As part of this UK to US traffic a licence to manufacture 3DQP in the US was acquired from the British Government and production was undertaken by AVCO, one of the two suppliers of US RVs, and used on new US RVs from the late 70s onwards.

1. IOTL the Naval Staff lobbied against Polaris Chevaline for the Poseidon for commonality reasons.
2. IOTL Britain built 96 Chevaline warheads and 126 WE.177C in the 70s with the 1967 Plutonium. ITTL the British stockpile is 23 weapons less than OTL, giving a total of 5 warheads less in the stockpile at the end of the 70s.
3. IOTL the 96 Chevaline warheads used 96 Reggie secondaries from ET.317, the surplus 48 Reggies were used in 48 of the 126 WE.177s with new 58 Reggie production for a total of 202 Reggies. ITTL 406 Reggies will be produced, which is where the wank is.

 

[Riain]

In late 1975 trouble began brewing again in Guatemala, a civil war looking like it would lead to an invasion of Belize. This time rather than send a carrier the Wilson government detached a flight of six RAF Harriers on a 5 month deployment. Once the trouble had subsided these were withdrawn again, however with this being the second intervention in 3 years the picture did not look rosy.

In March 1976 Prime Minister Wilson announced his retirement, leading to a leadership election within the Parliamentary Labour party in which the outgoing Wilson endorsed Jame Callaghan. Callaghan was duly elected to lead a government which had lost it’s slim majority won in 1974 due to by-elections not going Labour’s way. Late in the year he was faced with an interesting challenge when a party from the Argentine Air Force landed on Southern Thule, a tiny possession on the edge of the Antarctic Circle, and constructed a small military base complete with barracks and a concrete helicopter landing pad. They set up a weather station, a radio station, and a flagpole from which the Argentine flag flew. The base was named Corbeta Uruguay and it was not until December that the British discovered what had happened.

Looking back at almost two decades since the first Post War Defence White Paper, the one that ushered in the 'modern' era in British defence, Britain could be said to have been modestly successful with Defence procurement and associated industries such as aviation. She had managed to bring into series production the Lightning, Buccaneer, Harrier, TSR2 Vengance and now the Jaguar however, as designed specific to British defence needs none had sold well on the export market. The Vengance had lost it’s only export prospect in Australia to the US F111, the Buccaneer sold only to South Africa which also was one the three small scale Lightning customers. Only the Harrier could be seen as an export success with 110 sold to the US Marines and another 10 to the Spanish Navy, exceeding the number built for the RAF. British ships had sold better, the Type12/Leander class was built in large numbers worldwide and privately designed Vosper Corvettes, Frigates even Destroyers had sold to Iran, Libya, Nigeria and Brazil, even the RN had bought the Mk9 as the Type 21. But the big designs had not done as well, the County class had lost to the US Charles F Adams in Australia and while Argentina bought two Type 42s the Sea Dart was unsuccessful against the American Tartar for the Dutch DLGs. Armoured vehicles had done better with over 1,500 Chieftain tanks exported, far more than the number in service with the UK with more sales in prospect and a development path to a new MBT. On the civil side of the aviation equation, so necessary for a healthy industry, Britain had managed to sell over 700 of the ‘class of 64’(1) with the BAC311 now taking up the mantle. While Britain’s products had a limited appeal, often being too specialised or costly, Britain had a reputation as a good partner to work with and one which was ever mindful of costs when it could control them, which would stand them in good stead if they had a desirable product to sell.

1. IOTL 415 VC10, Trident and BAC111 were sold.

 

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In 1977 the Jaguar found it’s first export sales, but like the Lightning and Buccaneer in the previous decade these were small sales of 10 to Ecuador and 12 to Oman.(1) The big potential for Jaguar sales was in a pair of competitions to procure new fighters from India and Canada, each having expressed a desire to procure substantially more than 100 aircraft. Australia was still a potential customer to replace its fleet of Mirage III although in the post-Vietnam environment there was little appetite to rush this replacement, so while the RAAF retained an interest in the Lightning no project had been initiated. Of passing interest to the British was the decision of the final remnants of the once 5 strong MRA group Germany and Italy to take over funding of the privately developed Dasault Mirage 4000(2) against a requirement for 424 aircraft.(3) Just as Britain suspected the talk in 1970 of a German requirement for 600 MRA had not been serious, rather an attempt to gain control over the design of the aircraft and location of the production facilities.

Staring in January the Argentine occupation of South Thule became the subject of British protests which continued throughout the year. As a result of the lack of success with these protests and fearful of escalation into an invasion of the Falkland Islands the Callaghan government mounted Operation Journeyman in which a naval taskforce was secretly sent to the Falkland Islands in November to prevent an Argentine invasion. The force planned under heavy security was commanded by Hugh Balfour and consisted of the nuclear submarine Dreadnought, two frigates, Alacrity and Phoebe, and the auxiliaries Resurgent and Olwen as support vessels. The rules of engagement were: "Commanding officers and aircraft captains are to respond to any aggression with tactful firmness and are to exhibit a determination to meet any escalation, though not to exceed that already carried out by the enemy." They set up a 50-mile security zone and any ships entering would be told that they must identify themselves and state their plans. The Argentines rapidly became aware of the taskforce's presence, but their forces remained on Thule and Callaghan decided against the use of force to evict them. Arrangements to legitimise the station were discussed in 1978 but failed and more than a year went by before word of the occupation of Southern Thule leaked out to the public.

In June the third intervention in Belize occurred, this time another flight of 6 Harriers from 1 Sqn along with a detachment from the Army. This time it was for good and HarDet Belize set up semi-permanent hides to disperse the aircraft and drilled drain holes in the aircraft to deal with the intense humidity of the climate.

1. IOTL these countries bought the SEPECAT Jaguar.
2. IOTL the Mirage 4000 first flew in 1979.
3. IOTL this was the German and Italian Tornado IDS buy.

 

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That same year a pair of Airborne Early Warning projects were begun, one very high profile and the other very low profile. In 1977 the US Navy had finally retired their fleet of Grumman E1 Tracers with the decommissioning of USS Oriskany the final Essex class carrier used in the attack role. These aircraft were equipped with the Hazeltine AN/APS-82 radar which featured an Airborne Moving Target Indicator (AMTI). With 50s technology this radar was able to detect fighter sized targets at 110nm, 60% greater than the 65nm the 40s technology AN/APS20 fitted to the Gannet and Shackelton AEW models, equipment which had initially been reclaimed from Skyraider AEW delivered in 1951! The range of the APS-82 would allow the Gannet and Shackelton to increase their patrol altitude from 3,000’ to 8,000’ and take in an area 220nm across, a vast increase in capability for equipment that was being acquired at scrap value. These radars were salvaged from the US and fitted as a minimum change project to create 14 Gannet(1) AEW7(2) and 12 Shackelton AEW4.

The other AEW project was for a permanent replacement for the RAF Shackelton AEW fleet. The Labour Government, now without the slim majority of October 1974, wished to maximise the British participation in this project in order to create employment and stimulate the tech sector in an extremely difficult economic environment. They faced two sets of choices, the technical solution for the radar and electronics and which airframe to fit it into, each of which would influence the other. The radar options were to utilise the E2 Hawkeye ASP125 and avionics, to utilise the ASP125 with British avionics, Purchase the rotodome and antenna from the E-2 and combine with a British radar transmitter, receiver and avionics package. The final option was to develop a wholly British radar system and avionics package using a Fore Aft Scanner System (FASS) first proposed for the P.139B carrier borne AEW aircraft(3) of the 60s. The Government favoured option four as it provided the most benefit to British industry. The choice of aircraft would dictate the radar solution, the FASS option demanded either the BAC111-500 or BAC311, the former being considered under-powered for the role and the latter too big, too expensive and overkill for the role. This left the Trident 3 in its civilian guise or some 8 Nimrods based on the smaller Trident 2 which has become available with the disbanding of the Malta based squadron.(4) The 8 surplus Nimrods were not enough to form a squadron, and the Trident 2 base design was the same size as the BAC111-500, so the government decided to acquire 12 new build Trident 3 which would be a boost to the declining sales of this aircraft. With the Trident’s trijet layout precluding the FASS option 3 for the British radar and avionics utilizing the E2 rotodome was chosen to equip the Trident AEW.

1. ITOL in 1977 the RN 849 NAS had a 3 aircraft HQ flight and a 4 aircraft flight for embarked operations and 1 or 2 COD aircraft.
2. IOTL a minimum change Gannet AEW3 was the most likely to proceed, the proposal for an E2 style rotodome on a Gannet would require the entire aircraft to be re-certified for flight from scratch which is a ludicrous idea for a handful of 50s vintage aircraft.
3. Developing a whole new aircraft as well as a new, untried radar and avionics setup for a single squadron of carrier borne AEW aircraft and a handful of CODs, maybe 30 aircraft in total, might be the stupidest idea ever!
4. IOTL the Malta based Nimrods were only 5 years old in 1977 and 8 Nirmrods had been ordered in 1973, built but never delivered to the RAF, these were why the Nimrod was chosen.
5. IOTL with the Nimrod layout enabling FASS option 4 was chosen

 

[Riain]

As the new year came around Operation Journeyman ended in a whimper rather than a bang. The British Government was unwilling to use force to eject the Argentines from South Thule while the presence of the Frigates and possibility of a nuclear Hunter-Killer submarine dissuaded the Argentines from any thoughts of escalation. The Task Group steamed back to Britain as quietly as it had left. However other naval events were far more momentous, chiefly among them being the Commissioning by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the Fleet Carrier, named after her as the first capital ship commissioned during her reign.(1) Her sister ship, expected to be named Prince of Wales as the second capital ship of the monarch’s reign had already been launched 2 years previously and was on track to beat the QEII’s seven year build time by at least a year. She went to sea with an Air Group boosted by the first four upgraded Gannet AEW7s, and despite being able to carry considerably more fixed wing aircraft matched the Eagle’s Air Group of 12 Phantoms, 14 Buccaneer, 5 Gannet AEW & COD, 7 Sea King ASW & SAR.

1978 saw the final Lightning leave RAF service just short of 20 years in service, replaced by the Jaguar(2) which was now in full service and the most numerous combat aircraft in the RAF. The Jaguar itself finally rewarded the gamble taken by the Conservative Heath Government some 8 years earlier to develop it without partners and push for exports by winning a 126 aircraft order for the Indian Air Force. This would be made up of 40 built by the newly amalgamated BAe and the other 86 built locally with increasing local content. The deal also included the temporary transfer of 30 RAF Jaguars to India in order to more rapidly build up experience on the type. (3)The three Phase FV4030 project was going from strength to strength, with the 185 Phase 1 vehicles being delivered early in the year and the British fleet upgrade known as ‘Totem Pole’ being finished as well. The trials with Phase 2 introducing the 1,200hp V12 and TN37 had been successful and production of 125 tanks was underway. Furthermore the Phase 3/MBT-80 tank with the Burlington armour and hydrogas suspension first ran in October 1978.(4)

Meanwhile the little plane that could, the Harrier had developed to a point where it would be appropriate to make major changes. The Pegasus engine had grown in power since the GR1 entered service back in 1967, which allowed some modest growth to be considered. The first was to raise the cockpit by 12’,(5) this provided more space in the nose for avionics and the new GR3 version was fitted with a laser rangefinder and marked target seeker. The raised cockpit also drastically increased the pilot’s view, particularly rearward which in the GR1 version was limited by the large engine intakes directly behind the cockpit on either side. The second was a new bigger wing,(6) possible because the wing of the Harrier was removable in once piece for engine changes. These changes were introduced into the 40 production GR3 while the big wing and LRMTS were fitted in a ‘Thimble’ nose to GR1 and GR1A to become GR1Bs.(7)

1. IOTL HMS Invincible commissioned 7 years and 3 months after being ordered
2. ITOL all but 2 sqns of F6 left RAF service by 1977, replaced by Phantom FGR2 converted from the ground attack role taken by SEPECAT Jaguar
3. IOTL India bought SEPECAT Jaguar and borrowed RAF SEPECAT Jaguars
4. IOTL the Anglo-German F-MBT project ran from 1974-77 and the UK only MBT-80 1500hp V12 TN38 transmission began in 1978
5. IOTL the raised cockpit was for the Sea Harrier developed from 1975
6. IOTL the RAF was looking at a big wing to retrofit to Harriers but decided to go with the McDD composite big wing AV8B which flew in 1978 as a junior partner in 1980
7. IOTL Harrier GR.3 have the Thimble nose LRMTS

 

[Riain]

1979 began with political turmoil. After the defeat of the Scottish Devolution Referendum the Conservatives leader Margret Thatcher tabled a motion of no confidence in Callaghan's minority Labour government, which was passed by just one vote triggering a general election . The result was a strong win for the Conservatives with 339 seats, the first time Britain had a Government with a comfortable working majority since the Conservatives under Heath left office in February 1974, making Margret Thatcher Britain’s first female Prime Minister.

One of Mrs Thatcher’s first announcements upon taking office was that the British Poseidon submarine launched nuclear missile had become operational (1)at a cost of one billion pounds. While obviously keeping exact details a secret PM Thatcher waxed lyrical how the longer range would give the submarines more sea room in which to hide, how multiple warheads and decoys would guarantee penetration of the treaty-bound Moscow ABM system so that this ultimate weapon would continue to be the ultimate bulwark of British security. Mrs Thatcher pointed out that not only had the RN been given a major boost in it’s nuclear capabilities but the RAF had received about 50 new nuclear bombs by reusing the surplus RE.179 warheads from the Polaris A2 missiles as gravity bombs. At 450kt these WE.177C (2) were the largest weapons in the UK arsenal, to be retained in the UK for the exclusive use of the British government rather than assigned to SACEUR for NATO purposes.

Internationally Iran underwent an Islamic revolution with the Shah being ousted from power in January, and event which threw the British arms industry into turmoil. While some 707 Chieftains and 185 FV4030s had already been delivered to Iran all 125 FV4030/2 Shir 1 were on the production line and 250 F4030/3 Shir 2 against the requirement of 1,200 had been authorised for production. A frantic search for a buyer was sought for the Shir 1s on the production line and in June Jordan stepped in to save the day, not only taking on the 125 Shir 1 already on the production line but also ordering another 149 new Shir 1 to be known as ‘Khalid’. While this improved matters markedly for British industry the final sigh of relief was had when the British government bought forward their plan to order the Shir 2/MBT-80 and take the 250 tanks authorized for production against a requirement for at least double that number. (3) With 125 tanks taken off their hands and orders for 400 more on the books the end of 1979 looked far better for the Royal Ordnance factory that it did in the beginning.

1. IOTL Chevaline became operational in 1980-81.
2. IOTL the 450kt WE.177 was the B model and was the first WE.177 to enter service in 1966.
3. IOTL Britain canceled the MBT80 and ordered 243 Shir 2 in 1980