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28.2k FlyingPatriot  3.3 years ago

Try to catch up. Hawker Siddeley P.1184-16.
In 1972, the British Air Force issued requirements for the AST-396 (Air Staff Target 396) program to replace the Jaguar and Harrier. It was supposed to create a vertical take-off and landing fighter-bomber capable of speeds up to Mach 2 and has a combat range of 1,300 kilometers. All major aircraft manufacturers in Britain took part in this program, including Hawker Siddeley Aviation, which already had experience in creating the Harrier VTOL aircraft. This probably helped the Hawker engineers by 1974 to become the main participant in the AST-396 with the Hawker Siddeley P.1184 attack VTOL aircraft. At the same time, several rather radical and unusual variants of the P.1184 were proposed. Unfortunately, there is very little information about this program, so this article will only consider one of the most interesting projects - P.1184-16.

The P.1184-16 fully met the characteristics laid down in the AST-396 program, the armament corresponded to other versions of the P.1184: two 30-mm cannons in the nose and six suspension points under the wing. The main difference in the project was the placement of a cockpit with a weapon operator in the rear of the aircraft. At first glance, one might think that this is a gunner, but this is not at all the case. He does not have any defensive cannon armament and was not supposed to. The rear armament operator provided guidance for air-to-ground missiles at targets behind the aircraft. This made it possible to hit the enemy not only when approaching him, but also at the exit from the attack, in addition, it was possible to direct weapons to the proven air defense points, which I usually attack in pursuit. There was also a small radar behind it, which guided the Taildog air-to-air missiles (future SRAAM), but for this, the missile, when installed on the suspension point, had to be directed backwards.