BAC TSR - 2 The British Aircraft Corporation TSR - 2 was a cancelled Cold War strike and reconnaissance aircraft developed by the British Aircraft Corporation ( BAC ) for the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) in the late 1950s and early 1960s . The TSR - 2 was designed to penetrate a well - defended forward battle area at low altitudes and very high speeds , and then attack high - value target s in the rear with nuclear or conventional weapons . Another intended combat role was to provide high - altitude , high - speed photo reconnaissance . Some of the most advanced aviation technology of the period was incorporated in order to make it the highest - performing aircraft in the world in its projected missions . Only one airframe flew and test flights and weight rise during design indicated that the aircraft would be unable to meet its original stringent design specifications . The design specifications had been reduced as the results of flight testing became available . The TSR - 2 was the victim of ever rising costs and inter - service squabbling over Britain ' s future defence needs , which led to the controversial decision to scrap the programme in 1965 . With the election of a new government , the TSR - 2 was cancelled due to rising costs , in favour of purchasing an adapted version of the General Dynamics F - 111 , a decision that itself was later rescinded as costs and development times skyrocketed . The replacements included the Blackburn Buccaneer and McDonnell Douglas F - 4 Phantom II , both types being previously considered and rejected early in the TSR - 2 procurement process . Eventually , the smaller Swing - wing Panavia Tornado was developed and adopted by a European consortium to fulfill broadly similar requirements to the TSR - 2 . Development . Operational environment . Prior to the TSR - 2 effort , Britain ' s Royal Air Force had deployed the English Electric Canberra bomber , capable of flying at high altitudes and subsonic speeds . Like the de Havilland Mosquito before it , as originally conceived , the Canberra carried no defensive weapons and relied on its high performance to allow it to avoid defences . However , the introduction of the radar - guided surface - to - air missile ( SAM ) was a significant threat to this tactic . SAMs had speed and altitude performance much greater than any contemporary aircraft ; the Canberra , and other high - altitude aircraft like the V bombers or United States ' B - 52 Stratofortress , were extremely vulnerable to these weapons . The first aircraft to fall victim to the Soviet S - 75 " Dvina " ( NATO name " SA - 2 Guideline " ) SAM was a Taiwanese RB - 57 , a reconnaissance version of the Canberra , shot down in 1959 . The solution was to fly lower ; since radar operates in line - of - sight , detection of an aircraft flying at low altitudes is significantly hindered , thereby reducing time for enemy counter measures . In practice , trees , hills , valleys and any other obstructions reduce this range even more , making a ground - based interception extremely difficult . The Canberra was designed for medium - to high - altitude flight and was not suitable for continuous terrain - hugging flight ; this would require a completely different aircraft . Low - level strike aircraft , or " interdictor s " , grew into a new class of their own during the late 1950s . They generally featured high wing loading to reduce the effects of turbulence and cross - wind , some form of high - performance navigational radar to allow very low flight at high speeds , and large fuel loads to offset the higher fuel use at low altitudes . GOR . 339 . Aware of the changing operational environment , the Ministry of Supply started work with English Electric in 1955 , attempting to define a new light bomber to replace the Canberra . These early studies eventually settled on an aircraft with a ferry range , Mach 1 . 5 speed " at altitude " and low - level range . A crew of two was required , one being the operator of the advanced navigational and attack equipment . The bombload was to be four 1 , 000 lb ( 450 kg ) bombs . The requirements were eventually made official in November 1956 with General Operational Requirement 339 ( GOR . 339 ) , which was issued to various aircraft manufacturers in March 1957 . This requirement was exceptionally ambitious for the technology of the day , requiring a supersonic all - weather aircraft that could deliver nuclear weapon s over a long range , operate at high level at Mach 2 + or low level at Mach 1 . 2 , with STOL or possible VTOL performance . The latter requirement was a side - effect of common battle plans from the 1950s , which suggested that nuclear strikes in the opening stages of war would damage most runways and airbases , meaning that aircraft would need to take off from " rough fields " such as disused Second World War airfields , or even sufficiently flat and open areas of land . Specifically , the requirement included : Low level was stated to be under 1 , 000 ft ( 300 m ) with an expected attack speed at sea level of Mach 0 . 95 . The operational range was to be operating off runways of no more than 3 , 000 ft ( 900 m ) . The TSR - 2 was able to operate at above the ground at speeds of Mach 1 . 1 ; its range allowed it to operate strategically in additional to tactical scenarios . Political changes . As this specification was being studied by various manufacturers , the first of the political storms that were to dog the project reared its head , when Defence Minister Duncan Sandys stated in the 1957 Defence White Paper that the era of manned combat was at an end and ballistic missile s were the weapons of the future . Within a decade , this philosophy became thoroughly discredited , but at the time , and in the climate of the Cold War and " mutual deterrence " , the missile as a weapons system appeared to make some sense , especially as it seemed missiles would offer significant cost savings over manned aircraft . This viewpoint was vigorously debated by the aviation industry and within the MOD for years . Senior RAF officers argued against the White Paper ' s premise , stating the importance of mobility , and that the TSR - 2 could not only replace the Canberra , but potentially the entire V bomber force . In addition to the argument over the need for manned aircraft , additional political machinations had the effect of complicating the project . In September 1957 the Ministry of Supply informed the heads of the aviation companies that the only acceptable proposals would be those issued from teams consisting of more than one company . There were a large number of competing aircraft manufacturing companies in the UK while orders were decreasing , thus the government intended to foster cooperation between certain companies and encourage mergers . Another political matter that did not help was the mutual distrust between the various services . At the time that GOR . 339 was being defined , the Royal Navy was in the midst of its NA . 39 project , which would eventually become the Blackburn Buccaneer . This was a low - altitude subsonic attack aircraft , designed for over - water as opposed to overland use . The savings involved in both forces using a common aircraft would be considerable , and Blackburn offered the RAF a version of the NA . 39 to fit some of the GOR . 339 requirements . The Chief of Defence Staff , and former First Sea Lord , Lord Mountbatten was a loyal proponent of the Buccaneer , later claiming that five of the type could be purchased for the same price as one TSR - 2 . However , the RAF rebuffed the proposal , stating that it was unsuitable due to poor takeoff performance and the avionics not being capable of the desired role . As one RAF official put it , " If we show the slightest interest in NA . 39 we might not get the GOR . 339 aircraft . " Another political opponent of the TSR - 2 project was Sir Solly Zuckerman , at the time the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Ministry of Defence . Zuckerman had an extremely low opinion of British technological achievements and was much more in favour of procuring military hardware from the United States . Submissions . Work on GOR . 339 continued , with a deadline for submissions on 31 January 1958 . Many proposals were entered ; English Electric teamed up with Short Brothers and submitted its P . 17A along with the Shorts ' P . 17D , a vertical - lift platform that would give the P . 17 a VTOL capability ; designs were also received from Avro , Blackburn ( the NA . 39 ) , de Havilland , Fairey , Hawker and Vickers - Armstrongs . The Air Ministry eventually selected the EE P . 17A and the Vickers - Armstrongs Type 571 for further consideration . The Ministry was particularly impressed with the Vickers submission , which included not only the aircraft design , but a " total systems concept " outlining all the avionics , support facilities and logistics needed to maintain the aircraft in the field . Official opinions of English Electric ' s management found it decidedly lacking in comparison to Vickers , but the combination of the two was felt by officialdom to be a useful marriage and accordingly the development contract was awarded to Vickers , with English Electric as sub - contractor . The existence of GOR . 339 was revealed to the public in December 1958 in a statement to the House of Commons . Under pressure by the recommendations of the Committee on Estimates , the Air Ministry examined ways that the various project proposals could be combined , and in January 1959 the Minister of Supply announced that the TSR - 2 would be built by Vickers - Armstrongs working with English Electric ; the initials coming from " Tactical Strike and Reconnaissance , Mach 2 " . On 1 January 1959 , the project was given an official go - ahead ; in February , it came under the new designation Operational Requirement 343 . OR . 343 was more specific and built upon work from the various submissions to GOR . 339 specifically stating that the low - level operations would be at or less , and that Mach 2 should be attained at altitude . Mission . The envisioned " standard mission " for the TSR - 2 was to carry a 2 , 000 lb ( 900 kg ) weapon internally for a combat radius of . Of that mission was to be flown at higher altitudes at Mach 1 . 7 and the into and out of the target area was to be flown as low as 200 ft ( 60 m ) at a speed of Mach 0 . 95 . The remainder of the mission was to be flown at Mach 0 . 92 . If the entire mission were to be flown at the low altitude , the mission radius was reduced to . Heavier weapons loads could be carried with further reductions in range . Plans for increasing the TSR - 2 ' s range included fitting external tanks : one 450 Imperial gallon ( 2 , 000 L ) tank under each wing or one 1 , 000 - Imperial gallon ( 4 , 500 - L ) tank carried centrally below the fuselage . If no internal weapons were carried , a further 570 Imperial gallons ( 2 , 600 L ) could be carried in a tank in the weapons bay . Later variants would have been fitted with variable - geometry wings . The TSR - 2 was also to be equipped with a reconnaissance pack in the weapons bay which included an optical linescan unit built by EMI , three cameras and a sideways - looking radar ( SLR ) in order to carry out the majority of its reconnaissance tasks . Unlike modern linescan units that use infra - red imaging , the TSR - 2 ' s linescan would use daylight imaging or an artificial light source to illuminate the ground for night reconnaissance . Tactical nuclear weapons . Carriage of the existing Red Beard tactical nuclear bomb had been specified at the beginning of the TSR - 2 project , but it was quickly realised that Red Beard was unsuited to external carriage at supersonic speeds , had safety and handling limitations , and its 15 - kt yield was considered inadequate for the targets assigned . Instead , in 1959 , a successor to Red Beard , an " Improved Kiloton Bomb " to a specification known as Operational Requirement 1177 ( OR . 1177 ) , was specified for the TSR - 2 . In the tactical strike role , the TSR - 2 was expected to attack targets beyond the forward edge of the battlefield assigned to the RAF by NATO , during day or night and in all weathers . These targets comprised missile sites , both hardened and soft , aircraft on airfields , runways , airfield buildings , airfield fuel installations and bomb stores , tank concentrations , ammunition and supply dumps , railways and railway tunnels , and bridges . < ref name = " air77 / 654 " > " AIR 77 / 654 : The Limitations of 10kt Free - Fall Tactical Weapon As A Replacement for Red Beard " . London : Public Record Office , 2010 . < / ref > OR . 1177 specified 50 , 100 , 200 and 300 - kt yields , assuming a circular error probable of and a damage probability of 0 . 8 , and laydown delivery capability , with burst heights for targets from 0 to above sea level . Other requirements were a weight of up to , a length of up to , and a diameter up to ( the same as Red Beard ) . < ref name = " air2 / 17322 " > " AIR 2 / 17322 : Draft Air Staff Requirement No . O . R . 1177 An Improved Kiloton Bomb " . London : Public Record Office , 2010 . < / ref > However , a ministerial ruling on 9 July 1962 decreed that all future tactical nuclear weapons should be limited to a yield of 10 kt . < ref name = " air2 / 17325 " > " AIR 2 / 17325 E31B : Joint Naval / Air Staff Requirement G . D . A . 15 / O . R . 1177 ( Issue 3 ) : An Improved Kiloton Bomb pp . 1 – 2 " . London : Public Record Office , 2010 . < / ref > The RAF issued a new version of the OR . 1177 specification , accepting the lower yield , while making provision in the design for it to be capable of adaptation later for a higher yield , in the event of the political restriction being lifted . Meanwhile , the RAF explored ways of compensating for the lower yield by including , in the specifications for both the bomb and TSR - 2 , provision for releasing the smaller weapons in salvos , dropping sticks of four of the revised OR . 1177 , later named WE . 177A , at intervals to prevent the detonation of the first weapon destroying the succeeding ones before they could , in turn , detonate . This led to the requirement that the TSR - 2 must be able to carry four WE . 177As , two internally and two on external underwing stores pylons — the width of the TSR - 2 bomb bay ( originally designed to accommodate a single Red Beard weapon ) necessitating the reduction in diameter of the WE . 177A to 16 . 5 in , the bomb ' s width and fin span being constrained by the need to fit two WE . 177 bombs side - by - side in the aircraft ' s bomb bay . The requirement for stick bombing using nuclear weapons was soon dropped as larger yield bombs came back into favour . A drawback of carrying WE . 177 on external pylons was a limitation due to aerodynamic heating of the bomb ' s casing . WE . 177A was limited to a maximum carriage time of five minutes at Mach 1 . 15 at low level on TSR - 2 , otherwise the bomb ' s temperature would rise above its permitted maximum . This would impose a severe operational restriction on TSR - 2 , as the aircraft was designed for M = 1 + cruise at this height . < ref name = " air2 / 17330 " > " AIR 2 / 17330 E9A p1 " . London : Public Record Office , 2010 . < / ref > Nuclear stand - off missile s were also proposed for the TSR - 2 early in development but not proceeded with . These included an air - launched development of the Blue Water missile , carried underwing , or semi - recessed in the bomb bay , and an air - launched ballistic missile , referred to as " Grand Slam " , with a warhead derived from that intended for the Skybolt missile , and a range of . Conventional missiles were catered for instead , with the design originally centring on use of the AGM - 12 Bullpup , then moving on to favour the French AS - 30 before settling on the new OR . 1168 missile ( which would become the AJ - 168 Martel ) . After the cancellation of the TSR - 2 , the RAF eventually filled the tactical strike requirement using McDonnell F - 4 Phantom II s with US dual - key nuclear weapons , but continued their attempts to get the 10 - kt limit lifted . Development of WE . 177A was delayed by several years due to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment ( AWRE ) at Aldermaston being inundated with work on other warhead developments . AWRE workload eased after completion of the Polaris missile warheads and work was able to resume on the WE . 177A , deliveries to the RAF beginning in late 1971 for deployment on Buccaneers of RAF Germany , a year after WE . 177A deliveries to the Royal Navy . Approval for high - yield tactical weapons was eventually gained in 1970 and , by 1975 , the RAF had WE . 177C , which at almost 200 kt was a weapon very similar to what they had planned for the TSR - 2 in 1959 . Design . Throughout 1959 , English Electric ( EE ) and Vickers worked on combining the best of both designs in order to put forward a joint design with a view to having an aircraft flying by 1963 , while also working on merging the companies under the umbrella of the British Aircraft Corporation ( along with Bristol Aircraft ) . EE had put forward a delta winged design and Vickers , a swept wing on a long fuselage . The EE wing , born of their greater supersonic experience , was judged superior to Vickers , while the Vickers fuselage was preferred . In effect , the aircraft would be built 50 / 50 : Vickers the front half , EE the rear . The TSR - 2 was to be powered by two Bristol - Siddeley Olympus reheated turbojets , advanced variants of those used in the Avro Vulcan . The Olympus would go on to be further developed and power the supersonic Concorde . The design featured a small shoulder - mounted delta wing with down - turned tips , an all - moving swept tailplane and a large all - moving fin . Blown flaps were fitted across the entire trailing edge of the wing to achieve the short takeoff and landing requirement , something that later designs would achieve with the technically more complex swing - wing approach . No ailerons were fitted , control in roll instead being implemented by differential movement of the slab taiplanes . The wing loading was high for its time , enabling the aircraft to fly at very high speed and low level with great stability without being constantly upset by thermals and other ground - related weather phenomena . The EE Chief Test Pilot , Wing Commander Roland Beamont , favourably compared the TSR - 2 ' s supersonic flying characteristics to the Canberra ' s own subsonic flight characteristics , stating that the Canberra was more troublesome . According to the Flight Envelope diagram , TSR2 was capable of sustained cruise at Mach 2 . 05 at altitudes between and and had a dash speed of Mach 2 . 35 ( with a limiting leading edge temperature of 140 degrees Celsius ) . Its theoretical maximum speed was Mach 3 in level flight at . The aircraft featured some extremely sophisticated avionics for navigation and mission delivery , which would also prove to be one of the reasons for the spiralling costs of the project . Some features , such as forward looking radar ( FLR ) , side - looking radar for navigational fixing , only became commonplace on military aircraft years later . These features allowed for an innovative autopilot system which , in turn , enabled long distance terrain - following sorties as crew workload and pilot input had been greatly reduced . There were considerable problems with realising the design . Some contributing manufacturers were employed directly by the Ministry rather than through BAC , leading to communication difficulties and further cost overruns . Equipment , an area in which BAC had autonomy , would be supplied by the Ministry from " associate contractors " , although the equipment would be designed and provided by BAC , subject to ministry approval . The overall outlay of funds made it the largest aircraft project in Britain to date . Unlike most previous projects , there were to be no prototypes . Under the " development batch " procedure pioneered by the Americans ( and also used by English Electric for the Lightning ) , there would instead be a development batch of nine airframes , to be built using production jigs . The choice of proceeding to production tooling turned out to be another source of delay , with the first aircraft having to adhere to strict production standards or deal with the bureaucracy of attaining concessions to allow them to exhibit differences from later airframes . Four years into the project , the first few airframes had effectively become prototypes in all but name , exhibiting a succession of omissions from the specification and differences from the intended pre - production and production batches . Operational history . Testing . Despite the increasing costs ( which were inevitable , given the low original estimates ) , the first two of the development batch aircraft were completed . Engine development and undercarriage problems led to delays for the first flight which meant that the TSR - 2 missed the opportunity to be displayed to the public at that year ' s Farnborough Airshow . In the days leading up to the testing , Denis Healey , the Opposition defence spokesman , had criticised the aircraft saying that by the time it was introduced it would face " new anti - aircraft " missiles that would shoot it down making it prohibitively expensive at £16 million per aircraft ( on the basis of only 30 ordered ) . Test pilot Roland Beamont finally made the first flight from the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment ( A & AEE ) at Boscombe Down , Wiltshire , on 27 September 1964 . Initial flight tests were all performed with the undercarriage down and engine power strictly controlled — with limits of and on the first ( 15 - minute ) flight . Shortly after takeoff on " XR219 ' s " second flight , vibration from a fuel pump at the resonant frequency of the human eyeball caused the pilot to throttle back one engine to avoid loss of vision . Only on the 10th test flight was the landing gear successfully retracted — problems preventing this on previous occasions , but serious vibration problems on landing persisted throughout the flight testing programme . The first supersonic test flight ( Flight 14 ) was achieved on the transfer from A & AEE , Boscombe Down , to BAC Warton . During the flight , the aircraft achieved Mach 1 on dry power only ( supercruise ) . Following this , Beamont lit a single reheat unit only ( because of problems with the other engine ' s reheat fuel pump ) , with the result that the aircraft accelerated away from the chase Lightning flown by Wing Commander James " Jimmy " Dell , who had to catch up using reheat on both engines . On flying the TSR - 2 himself , Dell described the prototype as handling " like a big Lightning " . Over a period of six months , a total of 24 test flights were conducted . Most of the complex electronics were not fitted to the first aircraft , so these flights were all concerned with the basic flying qualities of the aircraft which , according to the test pilots involved , were outstanding . Speeds of Mach 1 . 12 and sustained low - level flights down to 200 ft ( above the Pennines ) were achieved . Undercarriage vibration problems continued , however , and only in the final few flights , when XR219 was fitted with additional tie - struts on the already complex landing gear , was there a significant reduction in them . The last test flight took place on 31 March 1965 . Although the test flying programme was not completed and the TSR - 2 was undergoing typical design and systems modifications reflective of its sophisticated configuration , " [ T ] here was no doubt that the airframe would be capable of accomplishing the tasks set for it and that it represented a major advance on any other type . " Costs continued to rise , which led to concerns at both company and government upper management levels , and the aircraft was also falling short of many of the requirements laid out in OR . 343 , such as takeoff distance and combat radius . As a cost - saving measure , a reduced specification was agreed upon , notably reductions in combat radius to , the top speed to Mach 1 . 75 and takeoff run up increased from . Project cancellation . By the 1960s , the United States military was developing the swing - wing F - 111 project as a follow - on to the Republic F - 105 Thunderchief , a fast low - level fighter - bomber designed in the 1950s with an internal bay for a nuclear weapon . There had been some interest in the TSR - 2 from Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) , but in 1963 , the RAAF chose to buy the F - 111 instead , having been offered a better price and delivery schedule by the American manufacturer . Nonetheless , the RAAF had to wait 10 years before the F - 111 was ready to enter service , by which time the anticipated programme cost had tripled . The RAF was also asked to consider the F - 111 as an alternative cost - saving measure . In response to suggestions of cancellation , BAC employees held a protest march , and the new Labour government , which had come to power in 1964 , issued strong denials . However , at two meetings held on 1 April 1965 , it was decided to cancel the TSR - 2 on the grounds of projected cost , and instead to obtain an option agreement to acquire up to 110 F - 111 aircraft with no immediate commitment to buy . This decision was announced in the budget speech of 6 April 1965 . The maiden flight of the second development batch aircraft , " XR220 " , was due on the day of the announcement , but following an accident in conveying the airframe to Boscombe Down , coupled with the announcement of the project cancellation , it never happened . Ultimately , only the first prototype , " XR219 " , ever took to the air . A week later , the Chancellor defended the decision in a debate in the House of Commons , saying that the F - 111 would prove cheaper . TSR - 2 replacements . To replace the TSR - 2 , the Air Ministry initially placed an option for the F - 111K ( a modified F - 111A with F - 111C enhancements ) but also considered two other choices : a Rolls - Royce Spey ( RB . 168 Spey 25R ) conversion of a Dassault Mirage IV ( the Dassault / BAC Spey - Mirage IV ) and an enhanced Blackburn Buccaneer S . 2 with a new nav - attack system and reconnaissance capability , referred to as the " Buccaneer 2 - Double - Star " . Neither proposal was actively pursued as a TSR - 2 replacement although a final decision was reserved until the 1966 Defence Review . Defence Minister Healey ' s memo about the F - 111 and the Cabinet minutes regarding the final cancellation of the TSR - 2 indicate that the F - 111 was preferred . Following the 1966 Defence White Paper , the Air Ministry decided on two aircraft : the F - 111K , with a longer - term replacement being a joint Anglo - French project for a variable geometry strike aircraft - the Anglo French Variable Geometry Aircraft ( AFVG ) . A censure debate followed on 1 May 1967 , in which Healey claimed the cost of the TSR - 2 would have been £1 , 700 million over 15 years including running costs , compared with £1 , 000 million for the F - 111K / AFVG combination . Although 10 F - 111Ks were ordered in April 1966 with an additional order for 40 in April 1967 , the F - 111 programme suffered enormous cost escalation coupled with the devaluation of the pound , far exceeding that of the TSR - 2 projection . Many technical problems were still unresolved before successful operational deployment and , faced with poorer - than - projected performance estimates , the order for 50 F - 111Ks for the RAF was eventually cancelled in January 1968 . To provide a suitable alternative to the TSR - 2 , the RAF settled on a combination of the F - 4 Phantom II and the Blackburn Buccaneer , some of which were transferred from the Royal Navy . These were the very same aircraft that the RAF had derided in order to get the TSR - 2 go - ahead , but the Buccaneer proved capable and remained in service until 1994 . The RN and RAF versions of the Phantom II were given the designation F - 4K and F - 4M respectively , and entered service as the Phantom FG . 1 ( fighter / ground attack ) and Phantom FGR . 2 ( fighter / ground attack / reconnaissance ) , remaining in service ( in the air - to - air role ) until 1992 . The RAF ' s Phantoms were replaced in the strike / reconnaissance role by the SEPECAT Jaguar in the mid - 1970s . In the 1980s , both the Jaguar and Buccaneer were eventually replaced in this role by the variable - geometry Panavia Tornado , a much smaller design than either the F - 111 or the TSR - 2 . Experience in the design and development of the avionics , particularly the terrain - following capabilities , were used on the later Tornado programme . In the late 1970s , as the Tornado was nearing full production , an aviation businessman , Christopher de Vere , initiated a highly speculative feasibility study into resurrecting and updating the TSR - 2 project . However , despite persistent lobbying of the UK government of the time , his proposal was not taken seriously and came to nothing . Survivors . The TSR - 2 tooling , jigs and many of the partially completed aircraft were all scrapped at Brooklands within six months of the cancellation . Two airframes eventually survived : the almost complete " XR220 " at the RAF Museum , Cosford near Wolverhampton , and the much less complete " XR222 " at the Imperial War Museum Duxford . The only airframe ever to fly , " XR219 " , along with the completed " XR221 " and partially complete " XR223 " were taken to Shoeburyness and used as targets to test the vulnerability of a modern airframe and systems to gunfire and shrapnel . Four additional completed airframes , " XR224 " , " XR225 " , " XR226 " and one incomplete airframe " XR227 " ( X - 06 , 07 , 08 and 09 ) were scrapped by R J Coley and Son , Hounslow Middlesex . Four further airframe serials " XR228 " to " XR231 " were allocated but these aircraft were allegedly not built . Construction of a further 10 aircraft ( X - 10 to 19 ) allocated serials XS660 to 669 was started but all partly - built airframes were again scrapped by R J Coley . The last serial of that batch , XS670 is listed as " cancelled " , as are those of another batch of 50 projected aircraft , XS944 to 995 . By coincidence - a projected batch of 64 General Dynamics F - 111Ks ( of which the first four were the trainer variant TF - 111K ) was allocated RAF serials XV884 to 947 , but these again were cancelled as described above . The apparent haste with which the project was scrapped has been the source of much argument and bitterness since . The TSR - 2 , nonetheless , remains a lingering " what if ? " of British aviation , comparable with the cancellation and destruction of the American Northrop Flying Wing bombers , and Avro Canada CF - 105 Arrow interceptor that was scrapped in Canada in 1959 .