Design and development
The Soar was developed as part of the Short Range Expendable Bomber cruise missile program of 1950. This called for a surface-to-surface missile similar to the V-1 flying bomb but jet-powered to provide much longer range, and using a new radio navigation system to give it the required accuracy at these extended ranges. Two designs were proposed, Bristol Aircraft's Blue Rapier and Vickers-Armstrongs' Red Rapier. [1]
Red Rapier was selected as the winner after Winston Churchill returned to power in late 1951. The Vickers concept was similar to the original V-1, with a mostly cylindrical fuselage, straight wings, and conventional tail surfaces. Power was provided by three small engines located at the tips of the tail surfaces. Rolls-Royce was selected to build the engines, whilst the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) began development of the guidance system. Designed to be expendable, the powerplant had a design life of 10 hours for a Red Rapier flight time of about 1 hour (range 400 nautical miles at 475 knots). [1]
Red Rapier had been conceived as an emergency program as it was believed the Soviets were planning to start a war in 1953, before the Royal Air Force's new jet-powered bombers would be in service. As the date approached and it became clear no such attack was looming, combined with the good progress on the V-bomber designs, the program, now known as UB.109T, was cancelled. By this time the engine was running and was demonstrated at the Farnborough Airshow in 1953 on each wingtip of a Gloster Meteor flying testbed. [2]
Applications
Development of the Soar continued for a time despite the cancellation of the UB.109T program. It was the smallest aero-engine ever made by Rolls-Royce and was an extremely simple engine with very few parts. Its starting and control systems were almost non-existent. Lessons learned in producing the Soar at low weight and cost would be applied to the next light-weight engine, the RB108 lift engine. [3]
Looking to power a target drone design, Lockheed contracted Westinghouse to provide a similar engine. They licensed the Soar from Rolls, as the Westinghouse J81. This powered the AQM-35 missile. [4]
It was also employed as an auxiliary powerplant for the Italian Aerfer Ariete fighter design and also considered as a JATO powerplant for other aircraft.
The Soar project was cancelled in March 1965, at a reported total cost of £1.2 million. [5]
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