 Bloodhound. On this model the four launch rockets are yellow. The two Thor ramjet engines are white, one below the missile and one above A British Surface-to-air missile, the Bloodhound SAM was developed during the 1950's as the UK's main air defence weapon and was in large-scale service with the RAF and four other countries' forces from 1958.
A contract was placed with the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1947. The project, initially known as "Red Duster," became the Bloodhound.
The Bloodhound served the RAF throughout almost the entire Cold War. Bloodhound Mk I entered service in December 1958, the last Mk II missile squadron stood down in July 1991.
Bloodhound Mk I
Deployment of the Bloodhound Mkl began in 1958 at the culmination of a development process begun a decade earlier by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (now part of BAE Systems) and Ferranti Ltd - the latter providing the radar guidance and control. Bloodhound 1 was used to protect the V-bomber bases and was usually installed nearby. Its pulsed radar could be jammed and was vulnerable to ground 'clutter', thus degrading low-level capability. These short-comings were quickly tackled, resulting in Bloodhound 2 joining the RAF in 1964.
Mk I Specification
- Length : 7.7 m
- Launch Weight : 2,000 kg
- Range : 80 km
- Max. Speed : Mach 2.2
- Propulsion
- Main : Thor ramjet engines
- Booster : 4 Gosling booster rockets
Bloodhound Mk II
 One of the two Thor ramjet engines of a Bloodhound missile The Mk I's pulsed Type 83 radar was replaced with a continuous wave Type 84 or Type 85 radar, both of which were less susceptible to jamming. The Mk II was given a more powerful Thor engine and could engage targets at higher and lower altitudes than its predecessor. The first site to be developed solely for the Mk II system was West Raynham, Norfolk, construction beginning in 1964.
Bloodhound was also stationed abroad, and in 1970 (after the Royal Navy's Polaris submarines had assumed the strategic deterrent role) all systems within the UK were withdrawn and either stored or transferred to RAF Germany for airfield defence. Changing operational requirements later prompted a re-appraisal of this policy in the light of the low-level threat, resulting in No 85 Squadron forming at West Raynham on 18 December 1975. Its first missiles became operational with 'A' Flight and assigned to NATO on 1 July 1976.
Mk II Specification
- Length : 8.45 m
- Launch Weight :
- Range : 185 km
- Max. Speed : Mach 2.7
- Propulsion
- Main : Thor ramjet engines (Improved)
- Booster : 4 Gosling booster rockets
Replaced in RAF service by the Rapier missile.
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