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Chapter Three Canada’s Cold War Saucers As relations with Communist countries wors- _ eted up tension between the superpowers. many years to complete and the project didn’t ened during the early days of the Cold War, While the Russians would take years to even get off the ground until 24th February Pentagon planners turned their attention develop a strategic nuclear missile force, it 1954 when President Eisenhower approved towards advanced aerospace projects, hop- seemed certain that any large-scale attack on __ the National Security Council’s request to con- ing these would provide a valuable edge in _ the United States would be undertaken by air- _ struct the Distant Early Warning or DEW Line. any future confrontation. The Americans craft crossing the Pole. Subsonic all-weather fighters were starting anticipated spaceplanes carrying nuclear Initially, the Soviet bomber threat was to enter USAF and RCAF service, but there weapons, high-performance spyplanes capa- more of a worry that a reality and the only _ were fears that by the time these aircraft had ble of cruising through the stratosphere and _ effective type flown by the Red Air Force was _ been deployed in sufficient numbers the Rus- fleets of supersonic flying discs designed to a Tupolev copy of the Boeing B-29 called the sians would be operating more advanced protect the homeland against sneak air Tu-4 Bull. But the CIA had obtained some bombers. attacks. With defence dollars flowing like details of Russia’s future strategic bomber Across the Atlantic, RAF Intelligence were water and low labour and material costs, this | programme, which was based on the signifi- echoing these concerns, with predictions that allowed many avant garde proposals to be cantly more advanced Tupolev Tu-95 Bear by 1960 the Soviet Union would possess Mach developed into experimental hardware that and the Myasishchyev M-4 Bison, both of 2 strategic bombers capable of cruising at alti- sometimes reached the testing stage, and in which had reached the prototype phase by _ tudes in excess of 60,000ft (18,288m). This a few cases led to useful weapon systems. 1952. From the American and Canadian view- generated Air Staff Operational Requirement Inside the Pentagon concerns were grow- _ point this bomber threat was made worse by (OR) 301, which in turn led to a number of ing that Russia would capitalise on the most _ the fact that their northern air defences were _ proposals forwarded by UK contractors for advanced aerospace technology captured totally inadequate and would remain that supersonic jet/rocket-powered interceptors. from the Nazis. This would provide them with — way for some time to come. The Saunders-Roe SR.53 and Avro 720 high-performance jet fighters, long-range Early post-war jet fighters lacked perfor- became the leading candidates and were strategic bombers and, eventually, interconti- mance, surface-to-air missiles were still in selected as the designs to be produced in pro- nental ballistic missiles. It was also apparent _ their infancy and the patchy northern radar _ totype form. However, in 1955 the Avro 720 that Western traitors had provided the Soviets network, rather appropriately called the was dropped, while the SR.53 was eventually with enough technical information to fully Lashup system, utilised fairly primitive and completed and flown purely as a research develop an atomic bomb and this adjustment somewhat unreliable World War Two tech- aeroplane for the mixed rocket-jet power- of power in favour of the Communists sent nology. There were plans for a chain of US- plant combination. By now Saunders-Roe shudders through the Pentagon and ratch- Canadian radar stations, but this would take were working on the more advanced P.177 to OR.337, which had become the planned pro- duction aircraft intended to fill the require- ment, but it never flew and rocket-propelled fighters were finally found to be impractical. Nevertheless, the high-altitude bomber threat remained a serious concern, which was eventually countered by the RAF’s supersonic English Electric Lightning fighter. Instead of rockets this had very powerful jet engines fit- ted with reheat, which enabled it to reach high altitudes very quickly. The Americans approached the threat to their northern territory by funding a whole series of studies that began in late 1949 fora supersonic interceptor capable of dealing with any anticipated Soviet bomber develop- Soviet Tu-95D Bear on a long-range reconnaissance mission intercepted by an F-4 Phantom. The Bear was one of the first long-range Soviet bombers to threaten America’s mainland. US Navy 54 Secret Projects: Flying Saucer Aircraft