After the curtailment of the British medium-range ballistic missile program and the refusal to create its own launch vehicle, the work of the Woomera test site continued. The termination of the operation of the launch complex, intended for servicing and launching the Blue Streak MRBM and the Black Arrow launch vehicle, affected the number of personnel involved in the range. In the period from 1970 to 1980, the number of people living in the residential settlement decreased from 7000 to 4500 people. Nevertheless, the missile test site, located in Australia, played a vital role in the testing and development of various types of British missile weapons. Until the mid-1970s, the Woomera test site was the second busiest in the western world, after the American missile test center located near Cape Canaveral. But unlike the Florida test site, where ballistic missiles were mainly tested and launch vehicles were launched, relatively small anti-submarine, aviation cruise and anti-aircraft missiles were tested in South Australia.
After the appearance of its own nuclear weapons in the UK, the V-series bombers: Valiant, Victor and Vulcan became its main carriers. In parallel with the creation of British atomic and thermonuclear bombs, bombing of their mass and size models was carried out at the Woomera test site. Such exercises involved not only long-range bombers, which until the end of the 1960s formed the basis of the British strategic nuclear forces, but also front-line twin-engine Canberra bombers.
In total, about fifty models of nuclear bombs, equipped with a small explosive charge and blue powder, were dropped at the test site from 1957 to 1975. When such a simulator fell to the ground, a blue cloud, clearly visible from a long distance, was formed, and a painted spot remained on the ground. Thus, by filming the point of fall of the simulator relative to the target from the carrier aircraft, it was possible to assess the accuracy of the bombing. In 1967, the crews of the Australian Canberra Mk.20 were also tested at the test site before sending them to Southeast Asia.
The British military, realizing the vulnerability of its bombers from Soviet air defense, initiated the development of strategic aviation ammunition that could be dropped without entering the zone of destruction of anti-aircraft missile systems. The development of an aviation cruise missile, designated Blue Steel according to the "rainbow code", began in 1954. The Blue Steel rocket was built according to the duck aerodynamic design. In the head part, the rocket had a horizontal triangular rudder with cut ends, in the tail part - a triangular wing with bent ends and two keels. The ventral keel, when installing the rocket on the carrier, was folded and installed vertically after takeoff. The Armstrong Siddeley Stentor Mark 101 rocket engine with two combustion chambers ran on kerosene and hydrogen peroxide and developed a thrust of 106 kN in the acceleration mode. After reaching cruising speed and flight altitude, the engine switched to an economical mode with a thrust of 27 kN.
Valiant bombers were used to launch missiles at the South Australian test site. Tests of the Blue Steel rocket, which lasted from 1959 to 1961, revealed the need for numerous improvements. In 1962, a cruise missile with a thermonuclear warhead with a capacity of 1, 1 Mt was officially put into service. With a launch range of 240 km, the declared circular probable deviation from the aiming point was about 200 m. The maximum flight speed at high altitude is 2700 km / h. Ceiling - 21,500 m. Taking into account the development of a thermonuclear warhead for the CD, the cost of the Blue Steel program in prices of the mid-1960s exceeded £ 1, 1 billion. However, the rocket was very "raw" and was not popular in the Royal Air Force.
"Blue Steel" became part of the armament of the British strategic bombers Victor and Vulcan. Each plane could only carry one missile. A total of 53 copies of the Blue Steel CD were built. Soon after it was put into service, it became clear that the British armament complex consisting of a strategic bomber and a cruise missile could not guarantee the fulfillment of a combat mission. After the massive admission of supersonic interceptors Su-9, Su-11 and Su-15 to the combatant fighter air regiments of the USSR Air Defense, the deployment of long-range patrolling interceptors Tu-128 in the north and the massive deployment of the C-75 and C-125 air defense systems, chances for a breakthrough to the target of British bombers fell to a minimum. In connection with the reorientation of "nuclear strategic deterrence" to sea-based Polaris missiles, the service life of Blue Steel cruise missiles turned out to be short; they were officially withdrawn from service in 1970.
In 1959, tests of a missile intended for use in the Ikara anti-submarine complex began at the Woomera test site. The basis of the complex was a guided missile, which outwardly resembled a small aircraft with an under-fuselage arrangement of a small-sized anti-submarine torpedo. The rocket was launched using a dual-mode solid-propellant engine developed by Bristol Aerojet. The flight was carried out at an altitude of up to 300 m with subsonic speed. The ship's automated combat control system continuously monitored the position of the missile in space and issued commands to correct the flight path. When approaching the target location with the help of squibs, a homing torpedo was dropped, which splashed down by parachute. After that, the rocket continued its flight with the engine running and left the drop area. In addition to various homing torpedoes, a WE.177 nuclear depth charge with a capacity of 10 kt could be used.
The starting mass of the Ikara PLUR left 513 kg. Length - 3, 3 m. Diameter of the body - 0, 61 m. Wingspan - 1, 52 m. Flight speed - up to 200 m / s. The launch range is 19 km. According to its characteristics, Ikara was superior to the American ASROC PLUR and was in service with the Navy of Australia, Brazil, Great Britain, New Zealand and Chile. PLUR "Icara" was removed from service in the UK in 1992.
Due to its location and climatic features, the Woomera test site was perfect for testing anti-aircraft missiles. In the first half of the 1950s, the British military initiated the creation of a long-range air defense system to combat Soviet bombers carrying atomic bombs. In 1953, the first Bloodhound anti-aircraft missiles were launched in South Australia. The rocket was developed by Bristol. Targeting was carried out by a semi-active homing head. To capture, track and aim the missile defense system at the target, the target illumination radar, created by Ferranti, was used. To develop the optimal trajectory and the moment of launching an anti-aircraft missile as part of the Bloodhound complex, one of the first British serial computers, Ferranti Argus, was used.
SAM "Bloodhound" had a very unusual layout, as a propulsion system used two ramjet engines "Tor", which ran on liquid fuel. The cruise engines were mounted in parallel on the upper and lower parts of the hull. To accelerate the rocket to a speed at which ramjet engines could operate, four solid-propellant boosters were used. The accelerators and part of the empennage were dropped after the acceleration of the rocket and the start of the propulsion engines. The cruise engines accelerated the rocket in the active phase to a speed of 2, 2 M. With a length of 7, 7 m, a diameter of 546 mm and a launch weight of 2000 kg - the launch range of the Bloodhound Mk. I was 36 km. The height of the defeat of air targets is about 20 km.
Tests of the Bloodhound air defense system went with great difficulties. To develop ramjet engines and guidance systems, about 500 fire tests of ramjet engines and missile launches were carried out. SAM Bloodhound Mk. I was adopted in 1958. The final tests ended with firing at radio-controlled target aircraft Jindivik and Meteor F.8.
The first modification of the Bloodhound Mk. I, in terms of its main characteristics, was inferior to another British medium-range air defense system with solid-propellant missiles - Thunderbird (Petrel). Solid-propellant rockets were significantly simpler, safer, and cheaper to maintain. They did not require a cumbersome infrastructure for refueling, delivery and storage of liquid fuels. For its time, the solid-propellant SAM "Thunderbird" had good characteristics. The missile with a length of 6350 mm and a diameter of 527 mm in the Mk I variant had an aimed launch range of 40 km and an altitude reach of 20 km. It so happened that the Thunderbird air defense system was adopted by the British army, and the Bloodhound complexes were used by the Air Force to cover large air bases. Subsequently, the air defense system Thunderbird Mk. II was also tested at a proving ground in South Australia.
In the first post-war decades, combat jet aviation developed at a very fast pace. In this regard, in the mid-1960s, in order to improve the combat characteristics, the British air defense systems underwent modernization. At this stage, the "Beagle" managed to bypass the "Burevestnik", realizing the greater energy potential of the liquid-fueled ramjet engine. Although both British complexes used the same targeting method, the Bloodhound Mk. II was much more complex compared to the ground equipment of the Thunderbird Mk. II. The difference from the Thunderbird air defense system: the Bloodhound anti-aircraft battery had two target illumination radars, which made it possible to launch at two enemy air targets with a short interval all the missiles available in the firing position. Around each guidance station there were eight launchers with missiles, while the control and guidance of the missiles at the target was carried out from a single centralized post. The advantage of the Bloodhound was its great fire performance. This was achieved by the presence in the composition of the fire battery of two guidance radars and a large number of combat-ready anti-aircraft missiles in position.
Another significant advantage of the Bloodhound air defense missile system in comparison with the Thunderbird was their better maneuverability. This was achieved due to the location of the control surfaces near the center of gravity. An increase in the rate of turn of the rocket in the vertical plane was also obtained by changing the amount of fuel supplied to one of the engines. The anti-aircraft missile of the modernized Bloodhound became 760 mm longer, its weight increased by 250 kg. The speed increased to 2, 7M, and the flight range up to 85 km. The complex received new powerful and anti-jamming radar guidance Ferranti Type 86. Now it is possible to track and fire targets at low altitudes. A separate communication channel with the missile was introduced into the guidance equipment, through which the signal received by the homing head of the anti-aircraft missile was broadcast to the control post. This made it possible to carry out effective selection of false targets and suppression of interference.
In addition to the British Air Force, the Bloodhound air defense system was in service in Australia, Singapore and Sweden. In the UK, the last Bloodhound air defense systems were removed from combat duty in 1991. In Singapore, they were in service until 1990. The Bloodhound air defense missile system lasted the longest in Sweden, serving until 1999.
The next medium-range air defense system tested at the Woomera test site was the ship Sea Dart. The rocket, designed by Hawker Siddeley, like the Bloodhound missile, used a liquid-fueled ramjet. A solid propellant booster was used to accelerate the rocket to cruising speed. The propulsion engine, powered by kerosene, is integrated into the rocket body, in the bow there is an air intake with a central body. The maximum flight speed of a 500 kg rocket was 2.5M. The target destruction range is 75 km, the altitude reach is 18 km. The modification, Mod 2, which appeared in the early 1990s, had a launch range of up to 140 km. In total, over 2,000 missiles were built between 1967 and 1996.
Throwing launches of the Sea Dart missiles in Australia began in 1967. After working out the propulsion system, in 1969 the first shooting at an aerial target took place. As in the case of the Bloodhound air defense system, Jindivik drones were used as targets. The Sea Dart air defense system was put into service in 1973. Anti-aircraft missiles of the Sea Dart complex could be used against low-altitude targets, which was demonstrated during real combat operations. The Sea Dart naval anti-aircraft system was actively used by the British fleet during the Falklands campaign. In total, 26 anti-aircraft missiles of this type were used up. Some of them were not launched sighting, in an attempt to scare away Argentine aircraft. Of the nineteen missiles fired at Argentine aircraft, only five hit the target. The last time the Sea Dart air defense system was used in a combat situation during the Gulf War in February 1991. Then the British destroyer HMS Gloucester (D96) shot down the Iraqi SY-1 Silk Warm, an Iraqi anti-ship anti-ship missile. Operation of the Sea Dart in the British Navy continued until 2012.
To replace the not very successful short-range anti-aircraft missile system Tigercat, Matra BAe Dynamics in the mid-1960s began work on the creation of the Rapier air defense system (Rapier). It was intended for direct cover of military units and objects in the front-line zone from air attack weapons operating at low altitudes.
Tests of the short-range air defense system "Rapier" at the Woomera training ground began in 1966. The first launches on target aircraft took place in 1968. After fine-tuning the guidance system in 1969, the Rapier air defense system was recommended for adoption. The complex began to enter the British air defense units of the ground forces in 1972, and two years later it was adopted by the Air Force. There it was used to provide air defense for airfields.
The main element of the complex, which is transported in the form of trailers by off-road vehicles, is a launcher for four missiles, which also has a detection and target designation system. Three more Land Rover vehicles are used to transport the guidance post, the crew of five and spare ammunition. The surveillance radar of the complex, combined with the launcher, is capable of detecting low-altitude targets at a distance of more than 15 km. Guidance of solid-propellant missiles is carried out using radio commands, which, after target acquisition, is fully automated. After detecting the target, the guidance operator keeps the air target in the field of view of the optical device, while the infrared direction finder accompanies the missile defense system along the tracer, and the calculating device generates guidance commands for the anti-aircraft missile.
The affected area of the first modification of the Rapier air defense system was 500-6800 m. The reach in height was 3000 m. In the mid-1990s, the complex underwent a deep modernization. At the same time, noise immunity was significantly improved and the likelihood of damage increased. The launch range of the Mk.2 SAM modification has been increased to 8000 m. In addition, the number of SAMs on the launcher has doubled - to eight units.
Air defense systems of the Rapira family have become the most commercially successful British air defense systems. They have been shipped to Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kenya, Oman, Singapore, Zambia, Turkey, UAE and Switzerland. To protect American air bases in Europe, several complexes were purchased by the US Department of Defense. SAM Rapier was used during the Iran-Iraq war. According to the Iranian representatives, the Rapier anti-aircraft missiles managed to hit eight Iraqi warplanes. During the Falklands War, the British deployed 12 Rapier complexes to cover the landing. Most sources agree that they shot down two Argentine combat aircraft: the Dagger fighter and the A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft. SAM Rapier-2000 is still used by the British army. It is expected to be in service until 2020.
