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The Rolls-Royce Spey is a low-bypass turbofan engine that has been in widespread service for over 30 years. Originally intended for the civilian jet airliner market when it was being designed in the late 1950's, the Spey machinery was also used in various military engines, and later as a turboshaft engine for ships known as the ''Marine Spey'', and even as the basis for a new civilian line, the Rolls-Royce Tay. Aviation versions of the "base model" have accumulated over 50 million hours of flight time. In 1954 Rolls-Royce introduced the first commercial bypass engine, the Rolls-Royce Conway, with a 21,000 lbf thrust aimed at what was then the "large end" of the market. This was far too large for smaller aircraft such as the Sud Caravelle, BAC One-Eleven or Hawker Siddeley Trident which were then under design.
Rolls-Royce then started work on a smaller engine otherwise identical in design, the RB.163 (RB; Rolls Barnoldswick, after the original Rover works at Barnoldswick) using the same two-spool turbine system and a fairly small fan delivering bypass ratios of about 0.64:1. The first versions entered service in 1964, powering both the 1-11 and Trident. Several versions with higher power ratings were delivered through the 1960's, but development was ended nearing the 1970's due to the introduction of engines with much higher bypass ratios, and thus better fuel economy. Spey-powered airliners continued in widespread service until the 1980's, when noise limitations in European airports forced them from service.
In the late 1950's the Soviet Union started the development of a new series of large cruisers that would put the Royal Navy at serious risk. After studying the problem, the RN decided to respond in a ''non-linear'' fashion, and instead of producing a series of new cruisers themselves, they would introduce a new strike aircraft with the performance needed to guarantee successful attacks on the Soviet fleet. The winning design was the Blackburn Buccaneer, which stressed low-altitude flight as opposed to outright speed. Flying at low altitude, in thicker air, requires much more fuel, the air-fuel mixture in a jet engine needs to be kept very close to a constant value to burn properly, and more air requires proportionally more fuel. This presented a serious problem for aircraft such as the Buccaneer, which would have had very short range unless the engines were optimised for low-level flight. The early pre-production versions, powered by the de Havilland Gyron Junior, also proved to be dangerously underpowered.
Rolls-Royce attacked this problem by offering a militarised version of the Spey, which emerged as the RB.168. This led to the introduction of the Spey-powered Buccaneer S.2, which served into the 1980's. The Spey proved so successful in this role that it was produced under license in the United States as the TF41 (F113), and was used in a number of British and U.S designs. During its lifetime the Spey garnered an impressive safety record, and was the first engine of any sort to be allowed 10,000 hours between overhauls. This dramatically cut maintenance costs, and is one of the major reasons it continued in service even when newer designs were available. With the need for a 10,000 to 15,000 lbf thrust class engine starting up again with the removal of the Spey from service, Rolls-Royce then used the Spey turbomachinery with a much larger fan to produce the Rolls-Royce Tay, a rather modern design even though its ancestors can be traced to the 1950's. A fully-updated version of the military RB.168 was also built to power the AMX International AMX attack aircraft, filling a role similar to the original Buccaneer.
Variants and applications:
▪︎RB.163 Mk.511-8 - Hawker Siddeley Trident, Gulfstream II and Gulfstream III (USAF designation F113-RR-100 for C-20)
▪︎RB.163 Mk.512-14DW - BAC One-Eleven
▪︎RB.168 Mk.101 (Military Spey) - Blackburn Buccaneer
▪︎RB.168 Mk.202 (Military Spey) - British version of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II (surplus engines were purchased and used by Richard Noble for the Thrust SSC land speed record car of 1997)
▪︎RB.168 Mk.202 (Military Spey) - Xian JH-7 (also known as FBC-1 Flying Leopard)
▪︎RB.168 Mk 250(Military Spey) - Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR1/MR2
▪︎RB.168 Mk 251 (Military Spey) - Hawker Siddeley Nimrod R1 and AEW
▪︎RB.168 Mk 807 - AMX, built under licence by FiatAvio
▪︎TF41 - Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II (USAF 'D and US Navy 'E models) licence built by Allison Engine Company
▪︎ThrustSSC - World land speed record.
The Marine Spey is still produced today by Rolls-Royce, which powers seven ship classes including the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates and provides a power output of 19.5 MW. The marine spey incorporates technology from the Tay and RB211.
Applications:
▪︎16 Royal Navy Type 23 frigates (including three being sold to Chile)
▪︎5 Royal Navy Type 22 frigates
▪︎8 Royal Netherlands Navy Karel Doorman class frigates
▪︎4 Royal Netherlands Navy De Zeven Provinciën class frigates
▪︎9 Japanese Marine Self-Defence Force Murasame class destroyers.
Sourced from:
The Cold War is far too extensive a subject for me to go in to here. However, if you do want to know more about its history and the countries that were involved, please see here: www.historylearningsite.co.uk/coldwar.htm
McDonnell Douglas F-4G Wild Weasel.
This F-4G, from the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, George Air Force Base, Calif., launched more than 40 missiles during Operation Desert Storm from Jan. 17 to Feb. 28, 1991. F-4G Wild Weasels were modified F-4E fighters with their cannon replaced by AN/APR-47 electronic warfare equipment. Their mission was to attack enemy air defenses, including surface-to-air missile (SAM) air defense radars. One hundred sixteen F-4Es were rebuilt as F-4Gs for this special purpose.
Carrying AGM-88A/B/C High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM), the F-4G worked in concert with other F-4Gs or as a hunter aircraft directing fighter-bombers, such as the F-16, against SAM sites. The F-4G carried a pilot and an Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO), who navigated, assisted with communications and coordinated attacks on the SAM sites. The F-4G Wild Weasel first flew in 1975 and was retired in 1996. The museum's F-4G was placed on display in September 1996.
TECHNICAL NOTES:
Armament: Various combinations of AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-88 HARM and AGM-65 Maverick missiles; also AIM-7F Sparrows and/or AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for self-protection
Engines: Two General Electric J79-GE-17A of 17,900 lbs. thrust each with afterburner
Maximum speed: 1,430 mph
Cruising speed: 571 mph
Range: 1,978 statute miles
Ceiling: 59,000 ft.
Span: 38 ft. 7.5 in.
Length: 63 ft. 0 in.
Height: 16 ft. 5.5 in.
Weight: 61,795 lbs. maximum
Somewhat abandoned but still not quite,,,l with functioning lights and running ventilations systems it seems like sombody has a plan for this...
ANCILLARY BUILDINGS –
The ancillary buildings at the main gate were originally between the outer wire mesh fence and the inner concrete wall. This arrangement was altered in about 1958 and the fence reconfigured so that the ancillary buildings where sited outside the secure perimeter.
Approaching the store area from the south the metal rails for the original electric gate are visible in the roadway. To the east is a large Seco hut building 67 (Drg. No. 1248/53) type KD, the Duty Officer's hut, and a dog-legged corridor links it to another Seco hut, which may have been erected after the closure of the RAF station. To the east of this hut is a small brick building 75 which housed the small arms ammunition and pyrotechnic stores. Returning to the entrance, immediately outside the main gate is a single-storey brick building 71, the stand-by set house, and behind it is an open three-sided brick structure building 70, which housed a transformer and sub-station.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
A defensive fighting position overlooking one of the airfield entrances at USAF Upper Heyford. It is American in designand constructed from prefabricated concrete panels. Similiar in design to the ubiquitous Second World War pillbox, these defences were sunken into the ground and provided protection against ground attack. They date from around 1986 (based on plans in Cold War: Building for Nuclear Confrontation 1946-1989, figure 4.18, published by English Heritage)
The Kelvedon Nuclear Bunker
Hidden in a wood off the A128 Ongar - Brentwood Road, is a small bungalow which hides a big secret. Behind it lies a three floored bunker complex in which 600 people would have been confined behind blast proof doors in the event of a nuclear war.
The deep, 125 foot, bunker was built in 1952/3 as part of Rotor, an urgent government building programme to improve Britain's air defence network. The bunker was the Sector Operations Command for the RAF Fighter Command. Known as SOC - R4, it was to provide command and control of the London Sector of Fighter Command.
Once into the bungalow, it leads to a 100 yard tunnel before you are in the bunker itself. Above you are two more floors, the 'hill' which covers it, and a radio mast, one of two, which would have been vital for communications.
The reason for the bunker was to take on a far more potentially catastrophic role in the 1960's. Because of the threat of nuclear war the bunker became the regional government bunker for London. The aim of the bunker was that it was to be one of the government administration centres communicating with the many other smaller bunkers situated throughout the country, organising the country after a nuclear attack.
STERILE AREA –
RAF Barnham Nuclear Weapons Storage Facility was heavily secured and at the time was probably one of the most secure locations in the United Kingdom. The security element was the responsibility of the RAF Police (RAFP). Personnel from differing operating periods at RAF Barnham have stated that there were up to three varieties of RAF Police specialisations working at the site: 'Provost' 'Station' and 'Qualified Police Dog' (dog handlers).
As well as a standard outer fence and main gate picket post, the facility included an inner perimeter fence and within that an inner concrete wall with another picket post. The area between these two latter perimeters was classed as ''sterile'', with trip wires and flares in the gap between them and atop the wall, to alert the guard force to intruders. Pole-mounted lighting was positioned at regular intervals within the sterile area and halfway between the towers was a V-shaped bulge in the fence to allow patrolling guards the ability to look up and down the fence line from a small path that ran within the area. A telephone post was located at these bulges.
Two electric sliding gates at the outer and inner fence and a traditional style split middle wire gate acted as ''vehicle traps'' for any vehicle driving in or out. At the front sliding gate was a personnel turnstile controlled by the RAFP guardroom. At the rear sliding gate was personnel access to the inner picket where flammables and other contraband (matches, cigarettes, lighters etc) were surrendered before entering the ''Danger Area''.
RAFP Dog Handlers patrolled the site and the RAFP station staff manned the watch towers and pickets. The area between the outer and middle fence was patrolled by the Dog Handlers, with elements of the outer perimeter reportedly just spools of barbed wire.
Five Watch Towers, one at each point of the pentagonal fence, were located on the inside of the middle fencing when the site was decommissioned. These were accessible along the path within the sterile area near the fence line, some elements of which are still visible under the moss and foliage. A 6th vantage point was located on the maintenance building towards the centre of the compound. Each tower could see the others at the time of operational use (trees get in the way now) and were fitted with searchlights at a third of the way up and right at the top, possibly similar to those used on ships. It has been reported that the angle of the lights had to be limited as the Officer Commanding RAF Lakenheath had made complaints that his pilots were getting dazzled by RAF Barnham's watch towers.
The existing tall metal towers were believed to have been installed in late 1959/early 1960. Prior to this there were wooden ones, described as being pretty basic and about 15ft high, with a base around 6ft square with a large searchlight mounted in the centre which could be swung almost 360° in either direction. Access was reportedly by a wooden ladder and there was a single railing round about waist height. There was a field telephone at the top of the ladder and ''special'' binoculars were issued. The platforms were in roughly the same positions of the new towers but on the inside of the concrete path. It has been reported by another source that when the new towers were built, the fences had to be modified to accommodate them, via a U-shaped cut-out, visible on the site today.
A former RAFP Dog Handler stated that before being posted to Barnham, you and more importantly your dog had to gain at least 90% in exams/tests, meaning they had some of the best personnel and animals in the trade. In comparison, the RAFP Station staff stated that they received no special training as such for the role. They did get sent on a special security course, but that it was of little relevance or use to RAF Barnham. They simply classed it as another security related job. Some have stated that they spent a lot of time on the range, with many of the Police being marksmen. It has been reported that the RAFP were issued automatic 9mm pistols towards the end of the site's operational period, replacing the Smith and Wesson .38 that had been in common use.
The shift pattern recalled by most RAFP personnel spoken to consisted of 9 consecutive shifts comprising 3 evenings (1500-2300), 3 midnights (2300-0700) and 3 days (0700-1500) which would then be followed by 2 days off. Approximately 14 Station staff were on shift, comprising of one Sergeant shift controller, one Corporal deputy shift controller and 12 others, some made up of National Service personnel. Therefore, with an off duty shift, this meant a guard force of around 56, plus all of the ''X'' flight staff (the term used for those involved with the weapon convoys), which had around 14 personnel. It was usually an hour on and an hour off on the old wooden watch towers. The Dog Handler shift patterns were (1800-0000) and (0000-0600), with no day patrols, around 8 dogs were on site at a time.
This and other RAFP sources have said that the security personnel knew very little about the goings on inside, even with the vantage points of the towers. It is reported that all movements were specially screened to be hidden from view, with even the large bombs themselves sheeted. One RAFP officer had even reported as quipping to a convoy commander about ''another glider'' coming in, making reference to the similarity between the ''Blue Danube'' pantechnicon and a glider trailer.
Information sourced from – rafbarnham-nss.weebly.com/security.html
FISSILE CORE STORAGE –
The fissile cores were stored in small buildings arranged around the large non-nuclear component stores. In total there are 57 of these buildings, which are divided into 48 Type 'A' and 9 Type 'B' stores. The fissile core stores are organised in four uneven groups around the non-nuclear stores. The two southerly groups of stores are arranged symmetrically to the south of the large non-nuclear stores, each group having sixteen small store buildings. The north-eastern group contains eleven stores and the north-west group fourteen. All but the south-east group contained a mixture of Type 'A' and Type 'B' stores.
The store buildings are linked together by pedestrian width walkways, fenced by tubular steel pipes 37in tall with strands of white between the horizontal members. The area was lit by pre-cast concrete lamp-posts, each of which had a red panic button at chest height. The Type 'A' storage buildings 1-48 are small kiosk-like structures. In plan they measure 8ft 4in by 7ft 10in and stand 9ft above ground level. The foundations of the building are constructed of 3ft thick mass concrete. The walls are of cavity wall construction and are formed of solid concrete blocks, while the roof is a flat over-hanging reinforced concrete slab with a drip mould, and is covered with bituminous felt. The design drawing (Drg. No. 3563B/52) shows a variety of irregular roof plans designed to disguise the structures from the air. These were never built, all the roofs being rectangular in plan.
Fittings on the walls indicate that they were all originally protected by copper earthing straps. On the front of many of the stores a stencilled notice records ''Date of last lightning conductor test April - 63''. Internally the walls are finished in unpainted, smooth gritless plaster. The side and rear walls are ventilated by four small controllable ventilators, two at the base of the wall and two at the top. In the floor of each of the Type 'A' stores is a single keyhole shaped cavity. Each hole is 1ft 5in in diameter and 1ft 9in deep. The shaft of the hole measures 10in wide and is 8in long and is shallower than the main hole at 3½in. A scar around the hole suggests it originally contained a vessel with the asphalt brought up around its lip. This is confirmed by the survival of the surrounding lip in similar stores at RAF Faldingworth, Lincolnshire, and by the rare survival of a number of stainless steel vessels at the bomb store at RAF Gaydon, Warwickshire.
The electrical system of each store was contained within small bore metal pipes; circular junction boxes led to other electrical fittings, which have in most cases been removed. In a number of the stores 'Walsall' Type 1174X flameproof switch boxes remained. On their covers is cast ''5 Amp 250 Volt Flameproof switchbox type Walsall 1174BX Group 2 FLP 302 Group 3 Test P60 Isolate supply elsewhere before removing this cover''. A small formica sign confirmed that ''The electrical installation in this building is standard 'A' in accordance with AP 2608A''. All the stores originally had external fuse boxes to the left of their doors.
The doors are wooden and open outwards, their outer faces being protected by a steel sheet. They are secured by a combination lock and internal vertical locking bar operated by an external handle. A metal fitting in the path allowed the door to be secured half ajar. Above the door, and attached to its frame, is a spring-loaded electrical contact, which probably recorded on the control board in building 63 whether or not the door was open or closed. Externally and internally the doors are painted light blue. On the door of building No. 1 is a 1ft diameter radiation symbol in yellow and out-lined in black, below it is a 11½in yellow square with a black star at its centre.
The Type 'B' store buildings 49-57 are slightly larger than the Type 'A' measuring 9ft 7in by 7ft 10n. Otherwise the details of the stores are identical to the smaller stores. The principle difference between the two types of structures is that the Type 'B ' had two storage holes in their floors. Each of these buildings was also equipped with a small wooden counter adjacent to the doors; the counters measure 2ft 6in by 1ft 6in and standing 4ft tall. They have been removed from stores 53 and 55. At some point during the operational life of the station the holes in the floors of all the Type 'B' stores were filled and covered by gritless asphalt. The asphalt surfaces in the stores are continuous, often with a slight depression marking the position of the holes, which implies that the original floor was lifted and new floors laid. The holes in store 52 have been reopened, as indicated by fragments of the asphalt surface thrown back into the holes. This is in contrast to RAF Faldingworth where the holes have been left open.
In total there were enough holes to store 66 fissile cores. One source states that the single hole stores contained plutonium cores, while the double-hole stores were, used for cobalt cores. Currently available documentation does not reveal if one fissile core may be equated with one bomb, or if a bomb contained more than one fissile core. Recent research has shown that Britain probably produced no more than twenty Blue Danube warheads, with this number on the active stockpile between 1957 and 1961. It is therefore likely that no more than a handful of weapons were stored at RAF Barnham at anyone time.
The significance of the filling of the holes in the Type 'B' stores is also unclear. It may coincide with the withdrawal of the first generation nuclear weapon, ''Blue Danube'', and the deployment second generation atomic bomb, ''Red Beard'' (from 1961), or it may be related to the introduction of first British hydrogen bomb, ''Yellow Sun'' (from 1958). Given the number of available nuclear warheads in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, it is unlikely that the RAF Barnham store was ever full. Part of RAF Barnham's function, along with other bomb stores, was to convince the Soviet Union that Britain had more nuclear weapons at her disposal than was in fact the case.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
Color slide with extreme red fading of a photograph of a view of the New River above Route 17 in Jacksonville, NC, near Camp Lejeune in 1958. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1958].
From Donald C. Gonder Navy Slides, CLDW 83, Cold War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.