"Tree-top' Bomber Flies

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30559, 30 September 1964, Page 17

"Tree-top' Bomber Flies

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) LONDON, September 29. Britain’s top-secret bomber TSR2 (shown below) may be sold to overseas Governments at a slashed price of £2m, the “Daily Mail” said today. It has been estimated that the first 50 to reach the R.A.F. will cost well over £lom each. Australia was among the top sales targets, the newspaper said. At the moment Australia preferred the rival TFX.

But that aircraft was two years behind and there was strong feeling in Australia against spurning the British industry in favour of the Americans. Britain hoped Australia could be persuaded to buy British now that the TSR2 was about to prove its potency. The “Daily Mail” said the British Government was unlikely to insist that TSR2’s massive development charges of the past five years must be passed on to potential customers.

It was felt that the price must be reduced if sales were to be made on the international market. The most likely N.A.T.O. customer was West Germany, and many defence chiefs believed the time had come for Britain to benefit from the N.A.T.O. pooling arrangements which until now had been heavily in favour of other nations. They contended that Britain, which had bought weapons from Belgium and Italy as

well as America, should be able to provide a TSR2 strike force bought and run by the alliance. But the straight deal with Australia and Germany remained the first objective, the newspaper added. THE PICTURE: The prototype TSR2, a supersonic tactical strikereconnaissance aircraft taking off on its maiden flight at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, on Sunday. It is designed to fly at treetop level to avoid detection by enemy radar.