Development
Developed in the late 1950s, Blue Water was envisaged as a surface-to-surface missile to be used against ground troops: a battlefield nuclear weapon.
Developed by English Electric, it was first flown in 1960 and cancelled in 1962 having successfully completed several test flights/trials at both Aberporth and then full-range trials at Woomera.
This missile was 25 feet (7.6 m) in length and weighed-in at 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg). The fuselage was cylindrical with a tapered nose, without the swelling required for previous large diameter nuclear warheads. The control surfaces were small and of typical English Electric form: four rear fins and four daggerboard shaped all-moving control surfaces at mid-length, indexed at 45° to the tail fins. Guidance was inertial and once aligned before launch, entirely autonomous in flight.
Originally called 'Red Rose', the missile was intended to provide a mobile short range nuclear capability for the British Army. It had a range of around 55 miles (89 km). It was to be fitted with a 10 kiloton nuclear warhead under development at Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWRE). Codenamed ‘Tony’, this was a UK version of the US W44 Tsetse primary.
The modified Cuckoo solid rocket motor was designed by the Propellant and Explosives Research and Manufacturing Establishment (PERME) and made by Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd. It gave a thrust of 1,700 pounds-force (7,600 N).
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