Avro 730

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The Avro 730 was a planned Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft and bomber for the Royal Air Force. If it had proceeded into service, the aircraft would have replaced the V-bombers as the primary delivery system for Britain's nuclear deterrent. It was cancelled in 1957 along with other development on manned aircraft as part of the 1957 Defence White Paper.

Development

During the early Cold War, the RAF bomber fleet of V-bombers was given the nuclear deterrent role for Britain. The need for a very-long range supersonic strategic reconnaissance aircraft to support the V-bombers both pre- and post-bombing was identified; an Operational Requirement, OR.330, for such an aircraft was identified and a specification was drawn up in 1954 for an aircraft that would be capable of entering the Soviet Union and avoiding air defenses. The aircraft envisaged would have to be capable of maintaining Mach 2.5 at 60,000&nbsp;ft (18,300&nbsp;m), with the ability to reach Mach&nbsp;3, and operate at a maximum range of 5,754&nbsp;mi (9,260&nbsp;km). At that point in time, it was the most ambitious high-performance aircraft internationally to date.

There were three major submissions from the aircraft manufacturers: the......
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