Project E

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Project E
Set of four Mark 28 nuclear bombs of the type supplied to the United Kingdom under Project E
Type of projectDeployment of nuclear weapons
CountryUnited States
United Kingdom
Established1957
Disestablished1992

Project E was a joint project between the United States and the United Kingdom during the

Coastal Command
.

The British nuclear weapons project,

strategic bombers of the V bomber
fleet until sufficient British weapons became available. This became known as Project E. Under an agreement reached in 1957, US personnel had custody of the weapons, and performed all tasks related to their storage, maintenance and readiness. The bombs were held in secure storage areas (SSAs) on the same bases as the bombers.

The first bombers equipped with Project E weapons were

RAF Germany
until 1965.

Project E nuclear warheads were used on the sixty

Honest John missile as a replacement. They remained in service until 1977 when Honest John was superseded by the Lance missile
. Eight-inch and 155 mm nuclear artillery rounds were also acquired under Project E. The last Project E weapons were withdrawn from service in 1992.

Background

During the early part of the

use of nuclear weapons against Japan.[5][6]

The British government considered nuclear technology to be a joint discovery, and trusted that America would continue to share it.

United States Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (McMahon Act) ended technical cooperation. Its control of "restricted data" prevented US allies from receiving any information.[9] Fearing a resurgence of American isolationism, and Britain losing its great power status, the UK government restarted its own development effort,[10] now codenamed High Explosive Research.[11]

In 1949, the Americans offered to make atomic bombs in the US available for Britain to use if the British agreed to curtail their atomic bomb programme.

atomic spy, resulted in the proposal being dropped.[17]

Negotiation

The first British atomic bomb was successfully tested in

Monte Bello Islands in Australia on 3 October 1952.[18] The first Blue Danube atomic bombs were delivered to the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command Armaments School at RAF Wittering on 7 and 11 November 1953,[19] but the RAF had no bombers capable of carrying them.[20][21] The first production order for 25 Vickers Valiants was issued on 9 February 1951, and they were delivered on 8 February 1955.[22]

English Electric Canberra

Once production of V-bombers began in earnest, their numbers soon exceeded that of the available atomic bombs. Production of atomic bombs was slow, and Britain had only ten on hand in 1955, and fourteen in 1956. At this rate, there would not be sufficient bombs to arm all the V-bombers until 1961.[23] At the three-power Bermuda Conference with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in December 1953, Churchill suggested that the US allow Britain access to American nuclear weapons to make up the shortfall.[24] There were several technical and legal issues. For American bombs to be carried in British aircraft, the US would have to disclose weights and dimensions, while their delivery would require data concerning their ballistics. The release of such information was restricted by the McMahon Act. There would also be issues of custody, security and targeting.[25]

In May 1954, the

Mutual Defense Assistance Program. The RAF was wary. The B-47 was judged inferior to the English Electric Canberra although it had greater range and could carry a larger bomb load. It would require 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runways, and the RAF had had a bad experience with the last American-built bomber it operated, the Boeing Washington. Above all, there was the potential loss of prestige and independence. The head of RAF Bomber Command, Sir Hugh Lloyd, favoured acceptance, but the Secretary of State for Air, Lord de L'Isle and Dudley, and the Minister of Supply, Duncan Sandys, advised Churchill against it. In June, the Chief of the Air Staff, Sir William Dickson, informed the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General Nathan Twining, that the RAF was declining the offer.[26]

In the lead-up to Churchill's next meeting with Eisenhower in June 1954, the President's assistant for atomic energy,

Major General Howard G. Bunker, discussed carriage of American atomic bombs in British aircraft with the BJSM. A detailed list of the equipment and technical data required was drawn up, and the USAF undertook to provide training and technical assistance, and to establish facilities to store, assemble and assist with loading the bombs.[27] The McMahon act was amended in August 1954, and while it did not go nearly as far as the British government wanted—the transfer of information regarding the design and manufacture of nuclear weapons was still prohibited—it did now allow for the interchange of information on their use.[24] This paved the way for the Agreement for Cooperation Regarding Atomic Information for Mutual Defence Purposes with Britain, which was signed on 15 June 1955.[28] A colonel and two majors from the USAF and the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project were given briefings on RAF aircraft to determine which US bombs could be carried.[29] The Americans then wanted to know how many bombs would be required. The Minister of Defence, Harold Macmillan, determined that the V-bomber force would reach a strength of 240 aircraft during 1958.[30] Each would carry one atomic bomb.[31]

Dickson visited the US for talks with Twining in September 1955.

Air Marshal Sir Geoffrey Tuttle, on 21 May 1957.[35][31]

In a letter to Macmillan on 25 March 1957, Eisenhower stated:

The United States Government welcomes the agreement to coordinate the strike plans of the United States and United Kingdom bomber forces, and to store United States nuclear weapons on RAF airfields under United States custody for release subject to decision by the President in an emergency. We understand that for the present at least these weapons will be in the kiloton range. The United Kingdom forces could obviously play a much more effective part in joint strikes if the United States weapons made available to them in emergency were in the megaton range, and it is suggested that this possibility might be examined at the appropriate time."[36]

Implementation

Tactical bombers

Vickers Valiant

It fell to the commander of the UK-based US

Roscoe C. Wilson, to initiate Project E.[37] Wilson had been liaison officer with the Manhattan Project, and Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, and was very familiar with nuclear weapons.[38] The first aircraft to be fitted for American atomic bombs were not V-bombers but 28 Canberra bombers earmarked as night interdictors for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) in 1957. These were new B(I)8 models, which came straight from the manufacturer for modification to carry the Mark 7 nuclear bomb. The intention was that they would be able to carry either American or British bombs, but since the latter were not available, they were only fitted for American bombs. Later-model Canberras would be able to carry both. Since the specifications for the bomb bay doors said they opened 52 inches (1,300 mm) wide, and the tail fins of the bombs were between 50.36 and 50.69 inches (1,279 and 1,288 mm) wide, no problem was anticipated, but it turned out that the doors only opened between 50.50 and 51.19 inches (1,283 and 1,300 mm), depending on the aircraft, which meant that the bombs would have to be individually matched with aircraft. After some thought, 0.5 inches (13 mm) was cut off each bomb fin.[37]

Four squadrons of Canberras were based in Germany, their Mark 7 bombs being stored at

RAF Tengah in Singapore.[40] Only the aircraft on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) were armed with a pair of live bombs. These aircraft were kept armed and fuelled on hardstands surrounded by 6-foot (1.8 m) high chain-link fences.[41] The Valiants were taken out of service in 1965.[42] The Canberras continued in service, with their Project E B43 bombs until the last was retired in June 1972.[43] They were replaced by Phantom FGR.2s, which carried Project E B43 and B57 nuclear bombs between June 1972 and October 1976, when they in turn were replaced in the tactical nuclear role by the Jaguar GR.1,[43] which carried British WE.177 bombs.[44]

Strategic bombers

Project E modifications to Valiants commenced at

RAF Boscombe Down.[45] The planned V-bomber force had now been reduced to 144 aircraft, and it was intended to equip half of them with Project E weapons.[46] The first 28 Valiants were modified by October 1957; the remaining 20 Valiants, along with 24 Vulcans, were ready by January 1959.[45] The Victors were also modified to carry US weapons.[47]

Under the Project E Memorandum of Understanding, US personnel had custody of the weapons. That meant they performed all the tasks related to their storage, maintenance and readiness. The bombs were kept in secure storage areas (SSAs) on the same bases as the bombers. British staff were not permitted to enter the SSAs; it was therefore impossible to store British and Americans bombs in the same SSA. Bomber Command designated RAF Marham, RAF Waddington and RAF Honington as bases with US SSAs. Another three sites had British SSAs.[48] US custody created operational problems. The procedure for handing over the bombs added an extra ten minutes to the bombers' reaction time,[49] and the requirement that US personnel had guardianship of the weapons at all times meant that neither they nor the bombers could be relocated to dispersal airfields as the RAF desired.[50]

Avro Vulcan

Initially, 72

1958 US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement.[53] The US now agreed to supply the V-bombers with megaton weapons in place of the Mark 5,[45] in the form of Mark 15 and Mark 39 nuclear bombs.[51]

independent nuclear deterrent came to the fore.[54]

The Air Council decided on 7 July 1960 that Project E weapons would be phased out by December 1962, by which time it was anticipated that there would be sufficient British megaton weapons to equip the entire strategic bomber force.[57] Project E weapons were replaced by British Yellow Sun bombs at RAF Honington on 1 July 1961 and Waddington on 30 March 1962.[58] Problems encountered in the development of Red Beard meant that the replacement of kiloton weapons took longer.[54] The UK-based Valiants at Honington and Wittering were withdrawn in April and October 1962,[59] and the last Valiants were retired from the V-bomber force in July 1965.[60] The final practice loading at RAF Marham—with the Mark 43s—was in January 1965, and the last US personnel left the base in July.[61]

British Army of the Rhine

M110 howitzer

Project E was expanded to encompass similar arrangements for providing nuclear weapons to the

tactical nuclear weapons into its war plans in 1954,[63] and BAOR adopted a doctrine under which it would be the dominant arm on the battlefield as NATO forces conducted a fighting withdrawal to the Rhine.[64] In 1954, the British Army purchased 113 Corporal missiles from the US. It was intended that they would be equipped with British warheads under a project codenamed Violet Vision, but Project E offered a quicker, simpler and cheaper alternative.[65] Weapons were made available under the same terms as those of the RAF: US custody and dual control.[66] 27 Guided Weapons Regiment, Royal Artillery, based at the Napier Barracks in Dortmund, became the first unit to equip with the Corporal in June 1960. A second Corporal regiment, 47 Guided Weapons Regiment, Royal Artillery, was formed at the Napier Barracks in 1961. Between them they had about 100 Corporal missiles.[67] The Mark 7 warheads had to be drawn from US Army storage sites in southern Germany until arrangements were made for local storage in August 1959.[66][68]

Lance missile

The Corporal had several limitations. It was liquid-fuelled, and the

targets of opportunity; there could be delays in the countdown process, which made it hard to warn the troops to close their eyes or aircraft to avoid the area; and it was guided by a radio beam that could be jammed or diverted. During test firings in the Outer Hebrides, eight out of twelve missiles accurately hit their targets; four fell short, a significant concern given the danger nuclear weapons posed to friendly troops. A new British project was begun to develop a better missile, codenamed Blue Water, which was to have used the British Indigo Hammer and later the Tony warhead.[67][69] 47 Regiment gave up its Corporals in 1965, and returned to the UK,[70] and the 27 Regiment followed in 1967.[71] The British government's September 1965 announcement of the withdrawal of the Corporal missiles raised concerns in West Germany that Britain might "de-denuclearise" BAOR.[72]

As an interim measure, the US offered the

Honest John missile. The offer was accepted, and 120 Honest John missiles with W31 warheads were supplied in 1960, enough to equip three artillery regiments: 24 Regiment at Assaye Barracks in Nienburg from 1960 to 1962 and then at Barker Barracks in Paderborn from 1962 to 1972; 39 Regiment at Dempsey Barracks in Sennelager; and 50 Regiment at Menden. Each regiment had two batteries of Honest Johns, and two of nuclear-capable eight-inch M115 howitzers, which were later replaced by M110 howitzers with W33 nuclear warheads.[67][68][69] Yellow Anvil, a British nuclear artillery round project, was cancelled in 1958,[69] and Blue Water met the same fate on 10 August 1962.[73] The Honest Johns therefore remained in service until 1977.[68] The 50 Missile Regiment was then re-equipped with the Lance missile, with its W70 nuclear warhead. With four batteries, 50 Missile Regiment had the same number of launchers as the three Honest John regiments.[68][74] The W48 was acquired for the 155 mm M109 howitzers. Both it and the W33 remained in service until 1992. The British Army also considered acquiring the Davy Crockett, but had decided against it by February 1962.[68][69]

Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles

Royal Air Force Museum Cosford

In 1953, the US Secretary of Defense, Charles E. Wilson, raised the possibility of a joint

Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) development project codenamed Blue Streak. The United States pursued two Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) projects in parallel to Blue Streak: the US Army's Jupiter and the USAF's Thor.[75] When Sandys, now the Minister of Defence, visited the US in January 1957, he found the Americans anxious to deploy IRBMs in Britain.[76] Macmillan and Eisenhower agreed to do so during their summit in Bermuda in March 1957, and a formal agreement was drawn up on 17 December; at the end of the month it was decided that Britain would receive Thor and not Jupiter missiles.[77] The deployment was codenamed Project Emily.[78]

The RAF activated 20 squadrons between September 1958 and December 1959 to operate the 120 Thor missiles. They were located at 20 old wartime airfields so that the government did not have to purchase new land.

Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Twelve test firings were conducted between 6 October 1959 and 12 June 1962.[82] Under the original agreement, the USAF paid the cost of maintenance for the missiles for five years. After a debate over costs and benefits, the Air Council decided on 31 May 1962 that Project Emily should be terminated by the end of 1963.[83] The last Thor squadrons were inactivated on 23 August 1963.[84] The missiles were returned to the United States.[85]

Project N

A maritime version of Project E was created, known as Project N. Providing American atomic bombs for Royal Navy ships would have involved similar dual key arrangements and detachments of

Coastal Command acquired Mk 101 Lulu nuclear depth bombs (with the W34 nuclear warhead) for its Avro Shackleton and Hawker Siddeley Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft from 1965 to 1971 under Project N.[86][87] These were replaced by the more capable Mark 57, which was stockpiled at RAF St Mawgan and RAF Machrihanish for US, Dutch and British aircraft.[88]

Impact on British nuclear weapon development

As well as meeting the needs of the UK forces, Project E affected the design and development of British nuclear weapons. Interim designs like Violet Club were no longer required, as Project E weapons could do the job pending the development of a British weapon. The British designers were particularly impressed by the Mark 28, which was not only lighter than the British Green Grass warhead used in Yellow Sun, but considerably more economical in its use of expensive fissile material. An Anglicised version of the Mark 28 was developed, known as Red Snow, and a Yellow Sun Mark 2 using Red Snow cost £500,000 compared with £1,200,000 for the Mark 1 with Green Grass.[89]

End of Project E

When the

F-15E Strike Eagles, which were withdrawn by 2008. The British WE.177 nuclear bombs used by the RAF and Royal Navy were withdrawn from service in August 1998, at which point the only remaining British nuclear weapons were the warheads on the Trident missiles of the Vanguard-class submarines.[90]

Notes

  1. ^ Gowing 1964, pp. 108–111.
  2. ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, p. 277.
  3. ^ Gowing 1964, pp. 340–342.
  4. ^ Gowing 1964, pp. 236–242.
  5. ^ Gowing 1964, p. 372.
  6. ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 372–373.
  7. ^ Goldberg 1964, p. 410.
  8. ^ Paul 2000, pp. 80–83.
  9. ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974a, pp. 106–108.
  10. ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974a, pp. 181–184.
  11. ^ Cathcart 1995, pp. 23–24, 48, 57.
  12. ^ Hewlett & Duncan 1969, pp. 307–308.
  13. ^ Hewlett & Duncan 1969, p. 310.
  14. ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974a, pp. 281–283.
  15. ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974a, p. 220.
  16. ^ Hewlett & Duncan 1969, p. 309.
  17. ^ Hewlett & Duncan 1969, pp. 312–314.
  18. ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974b, pp. 493–495.
  19. ^ Wynn 1997, p. 92.
  20. ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974a, pp. 234–235.
  21. ^ Baylis 1995, p. 180.
  22. ^ Wynn 1997, pp. 55–56.
  23. ^ Young 2016, p. 201.
  24. ^ a b Paul 2000, pp. 200–201.
  25. ^ Young 2016, pp. 200–201.
  26. ^ Young 2016, pp. 201–203.
  27. ^ Young 2016, pp. 203–204.
  28. ^ Botti 1987, pp. 147–149.
  29. ^ a b c Young 2016, pp. 204–205.
  30. ^ Wynn 1997, p. 253.
  31. ^ a b c Moore 2010, p. 114.
  32. ^ a b c Wynn 1997, pp. 254–256.
  33. ^ Wynn 1997, p. 258.
  34. ^ Baylis 1995, p. 258.
  35. ^ Wynn 1997, p. 259.
  36. ^ Wynn 1997, pp. 258–259.
  37. ^ a b Young 2016, pp. 207–211.
  38. ^ "Lieutenant General Roscoe C. Wilson". United States Air Force. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  39. ^ a b Moore 2010, pp. 98–99.
  40. ^ a b Moore 2010, p. 215.
  41. ^ Wynn 1997, p. 363.
  42. ^ Wynn 1997, pp. 371–372.
  43. ^ a b Norris, Burrows & Fieldhouse 1994, p. 151.
  44. ^ Norris, Burrows & Fieldhouse 1994, pp. 155–156.
  45. ^ a b c Young 2016, p. 212.
  46. ^ Bronk 2014, p. 980.
  47. ^ Darling 2012, p. 50.
  48. ^ Bronk 2014, pp. 978–980.
  49. ^ Bronk 2014, p. 985.
  50. ^ Wynn 1997, pp. 262–263.
  51. ^ a b Wynn 1997, pp. 264–265.
  52. ^ Moore 2010, pp. 114, 256.
  53. ^ Navias 1991, pp. 193–198.
  54. ^ a b c d Young 2016, pp. 213–214.
  55. ^ a b Bronk 2014, p. 994.
  56. ^ Baylis 1995, p. 275.
  57. ^ Wynn 1997, pp. 266–267.
  58. ^ Moore 2010, pp. 114, 210.
  59. ^ Moore 2010, p. 214.
  60. ^ Wynn 1997, pp. 494–500.
  61. ^ Wynn 1997, p. 269.
  62. ^ Moore, Richard (March 2004). "The Real Meaning of the Words: a Pedantic Glossary of British Nuclear Weapons" (PDF). Mountbatten Centre for International Studies, University of Southampton. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  63. ^ Navias 1991, pp. 86–87.
  64. ^ Moore 2010, pp. 56–57.
  65. ^ MacDonald 2006, pp. 59–60.
  66. ^ a b Moore 2010, p. 130.
  67. ^ a b c Stoddart 2012, pp. 108–109.
  68. ^ a b c d e Stoddart 2012, p. 313.
  69. ^ a b c d Moore 2010, pp. 132–133.
  70. ^ "47th Regiment RA". British Army units from 1945 on. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  71. ^ "27th Regiment RA". British Army units from 1945 on. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  72. ^ Stoddart 2012, pp. 110–112.
  73. Flight
    . 8 November 1962. p. 751.
  74. Flight
    . pp. 1192–1195.
  75. ^ Boyes 2015, pp. 34–37.
  76. ^ Boyes 2015, p. 40.
  77. ^ Wynn 1997, p. 287.
  78. ^ Young 2016, p. 98.
  79. ^ Wynn 1997, p. 340.
  80. ^ a b Moore 2010, p. 99.
  81. ^ Boyes 2015, p. 77.
  82. ^ Boyes 2015, p. 117.
  83. ^ Wynn 1997, pp. 357–358.
  84. ^ Wynn 1997, p. 362.
  85. ^ Boyes 2015, pp. 152–153.
  86. ^ Moore 2010, pp. 221–222.
  87. ^ Stoddart 2012, pp. 220, 314.
  88. ^ Norris, Burrows & Fieldhouse 1994, p. 85.
  89. ^ Moore 2010, pp. 104–105.
  90. ^ Ritchie 2014, pp. 14–16.

References

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