Blue Streak 20:20 hindsight?

摘要

Blue Streak was a missile for which contracts were awarded in 1955. On April 13, 1960 it was cancelled. The cost of the project was estimated at ￡65 million. The estimated cost to bring the missile into operational service in 1965 was ￡600 million. The project has been dismissed as the victim of a poor technical choice. The missile was liquid fuelled which has been quoted as the reason for its cancellation. Authors quote it as the only reason stating that the entire weapon system was in fact obsolescent because of the choice of fuel. It is intended to suggest that Blue Streak was not rendered obsolete because of the choice of fuel and that those who make the suggestion fail to understand the scale or the complexity of the failure. Liquid fuel has been a useful scapegoat to conceal a significant failure of the institutions and organisations that controlled the project.