| P.1103 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Interceptor |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Hawker Aircraft |
| Status | Design only |
| Number built | None |
The Hawker P.1103 was a design by Hawker Aircraft to meet the British Operational Requirement F.155; it was not developed into an aircraft.
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Operational Requirement F.155 was a Operational Requirement issued by the British Ministry of Supply in 1955 for an interceptor aircraft to defend the United Kingdom from high flying supersonic bombers.
F.155 specified exacting demands:
The Ministry of Supply made clear in the requirement that the plane and missiles should be treated as a "weapon system" i.e., a cohesive whole. The armament specifications were covered by a separate Operational Requirement, OR.1131, which listed two missile systems: the infra-red guided de Havilland "Blue Vesta" and the radar-guided Vickers "Red Hebe".
The submission by Hawker Siddeley a design by the legendary designer Sir Sydney Camm was effectively a supersonic development of his successful Hawker Hunter design, using a single engine - a 25,000 lb development of the de Havilland Gyron breathing through an under-chin air intake. Two detachable rocket boosters, to give a 3.7 minute boost, were carried in midwing nacelles.
Although a nuclear threat from high-flying Soviet supersonic nuclear-armed bombers was identified in 1955, F.155 calling for supersonic interceptors (in service by 1962) was superseded by the 1957 Defence White Paper. The paper was a major review of military spending and one of its elements was the cancellation of nearly all manned fighter projects as a radical change had occurred in strategic threats with the expectation that intercontinental ballistic missiles and low-level strike would replace high flying bombers.
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