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- UB.109T, better known as Red Rapier, was a British cruise missile project calling for a system able to deliver a 5,000 lb (2.27 tonne) conventional warhead within 100 yards of its target at over 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) range while travelling at 600 mph (970 km/h) at 50,000 ft (15,000 m). The concept dates to an October 1950 study for a Short Range Expendable Bomber, essentially an updated V-1 flying bomb. At the time, the Royal Air Force (RAF) bomber fleet was propeller driven and not expected to be able to survive encounters with Soviet jet fighters. Looking for a way to make pinpoint tactical attacks, the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) developed a new radio navigation system that provided the required accuracy. To reach the desired range, the V-1's pulsejet was replaced with small turbojets. Proposals from Bristol and Vickers appeared interesting and received development contracts under the rainbow code names "Blue Rapier" and "Red Rapier" respectively. That year, intelligence reports suggested the Soviets were contemplating an attack on NATO around 1953. On returning to power in 1951, Winston Churchill gave the project "super priority", and Red Rapier was selected to move forward. Air launches from B-29 Washington bombers over Woomera began in 1954. By this time the threat of imminent Soviet attack had passed and the RAF's new jet bombers were entering service. These had the performance to carry out the daytime precision role. The project was cancelled on 30 September 1954. Several of the testing systems developed for the program were shared with Vickers Blue Boar project, which was cancelled around the same time. (en)
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