{"id":22996826,"date":"2026-09-17T12:51:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T12:52:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:52:07","slug":"skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/","title":{"rendered":"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost Britain&rsquo;s Bomb"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n<p>Britain spent the 1950s building three superb bombers and then discovered it had nothing worth putting in them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/avro-vulcan\/\">Vulcan<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/handley-page-victor\/\">Victor<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/vickers-valiant\/\">Valiant<\/a> were designed to fly over the Soviet Union and drop free-fall bombs. By the time they were in squadron service, Soviet surface-to-air missiles had made flying over the Soviet Union a way of dying. Britain needed a stand-off weapon, and then a missile, and then another missile. Two of them were cancelled.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The consequence was that the British nuclear deterrent stopped belonging to the Royal Air Force and started belonging to the Royal Navy. It has never gone back.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f6f8;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:26px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Blue Streak:<\/strong> British liquid-fuelled ballistic missile; cabinet decided to cancel it in February 1960<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>The replacement:<\/strong> Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt, an American air-launched ballistic missile for the V-bombers<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>The deal:<\/strong> Eisenhower agreed in March 1960 to sell Britain 144 Skybolts, with British warheads; the US got the submarine base at Holy Loch<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Target in service:<\/strong> End of 1963<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Skybolt cancelled:<\/strong> 22 December 1962<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Nassau Agreement:<\/strong> 21 December 1962 &mdash; Britain gets Polaris instead<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Net result:<\/strong> The deterrent passed from RAF bombers to Royal Navy submarines<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The problem with flying over Russia<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Britain had been working on Blue Steel, a rocket-powered stand-off missile, since 1955. The idea was sound: launch a hundred miles out and let the missile fly the last leg, so the bomber never entered the worst of the defences.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>By 1960 Blue Steel had not entered service and was already looking dated. British intelligence assessments from the early 1950s had warned that Soviet SAM development would make the V-bombers dangerously vulnerable during the 1960s, and that was proving right on schedule. A Blue Steel Mark 2 was considered. The RAF looked at it and decided to pin its hopes on something American instead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Running alongside was Blue Streak, Britain\u2019s own ballistic missile. It worked as engineering. Its problem was that it burned liquid propellant, which meant it had to be fuelled before launch, which meant it took long enough to prepare that a Soviet first strike would catch it sitting in its silo. A weapon that only works if you shoot first is not a deterrent; it is an invitation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>In February 1960 the cabinet decided to cancel it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HwXLkKrk-Ko\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>British Path&eacute; newsreel of Blue Streak. The rocket outlived its military role and went on to fly as the first stage of the European Europa launcher.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Betting the deterrent on somebody else\u2019s missile<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Having cancelled its own missile, Britain needed a replacement quickly, and Macmillan went to Eisenhower in March 1960 to get one.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The answer was Skybolt: a two-stage ballistic missile slung under a bomber\u2019s wing, launched at altitude, giving the aircraft a thousand miles of stand-off. Eisenhower agreed to sell 144 of them. Britain would fit its own warheads. In exchange, the United States Navy got Holy Loch in Scotland as a base for its Polaris submarines.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It was, on paper, an excellent arrangement. The V-bomber force stayed relevant, the missile was American-funded, and Britain kept an independent deterrent without paying to develop one. The in-service date was the end of 1963. Vulcan XH537 was flying with dummy Skybolts under its wings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/avro-vulcan-b2-xm607-waddington.jpg\" alt=\"Avro Vulcan B2 XM607 preserved at RAF Waddington behind a perimeter fence\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Vulcan B2 at RAF Waddington. The V-force was built to carry Britain&rsquo;s bomb, and for a few years in the early 1960s it was going to carry Skybolt. Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The flaw in the arrangement was that Britain had made its entire 1960s deterrent depend on an American programme over which it had no control, and which the Americans could cancel for reasons that had nothing to do with Britain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Which is exactly what happened.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eQoq013LzA8\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>British Path&eacute; on Skybolt in 1962, filmed before the cancellation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">December 1962<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>In November 1962 British officials were warned that cancellation was likely. Robert McNamara had looked at Skybolt&rsquo;s test record and its cost and concluded the Americans did not need it: they already had Minuteman going into silos and Polaris going to sea. An air-launched ballistic missile was an expensive solution to a problem the United States had solved twice over.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>For Britain it was not a redundant programme. It was the whole deterrent.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The timing could hardly have been worse. The Cuban Missile Crisis had ended a few weeks earlier, during which Macmillan felt he had backed Kennedy loyally and been consulted rather less than he expected. Now the Americans proposed to cancel the weapon Britain had reorganised its entire nuclear posture around, and the news reached London through the press before it arrived through diplomatic channels.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Kennedy and Macmillan met at Nassau in the Bahamas over three days in December. What Macmillan needed was not a missile but a demonstration that the special relationship meant something. What he got, in the agreement concluded on 21 December 1962, was Polaris.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Skybolt was formally cancelled the following day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/polaris-missile-first-submerged-launch.png\" alt=\"A Polaris ballistic missile breaking the surface during the first submerged launch\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Polaris missile breaking the surface. Nassau gave Britain the missile, and with it moved the deterrent from bomber squadrons to submarine crews. US Navy photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What it actually cost<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>On the surface Nassau looks like a rescue. Britain lost a missile it had not paid for and gained a better one.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Underneath, it was a transfer of institutional power that has lasted more than sixty years. Polaris goes in a submarine. A submarine belongs to the Navy. From the moment the ink dried, the Royal Air Force was on a path towards handing over the strategic deterrent it had held since 1945, and in 1969 it did exactly that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The V-force did not disappear &mdash; it moved to low-level conventional and tactical work, and the Vulcan had one extraordinary late outing over the Falklands &mdash; but the job it had been designed and built for was gone. The three bombers had been conceived to carry Britain\u2019s bomb to Moscow. They ended up as a conventional strike force whose most famous mission was bombing a runway in the South Atlantic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>There is a second cost, less often counted. Cancelling Blue Streak in favour of an American weapon, then losing the American weapon, taught Whitehall that depending on Washington for a delivery system carried a specific kind of risk. It did not stop Britain doing it. Trident is American too. But the phrase &ldquo;independent nuclear deterrent&rdquo; has done a great deal of heavy lifting ever since December 1962.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The report Kennedy commissioned<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The affair rattled Washington enough that Kennedy asked Richard Neustadt to find out how an administration had managed to blindside its closest ally by accident. Neustadt was given the files and interviewed senior officials on both sides. His report went to the President in November 1963 and stayed classified until 1992.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It remains the fullest account of how the crisis happened, and its answer is not conspiracy but something more familiar: two governments, each assuming the other understood what a decision meant, neither checking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;Rather than treating his findings as a source of observations or extended commentary, Neustadt presented them as a story. His documentation of the events that led to the historical crisis are a fascinating insight into the actions of both governments.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Vulcan to the Sky Trust<\/strong> &mdash; on Richard Neustadt&rsquo;s 1963 report to President Kennedy, declassified 1992<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Blue Streak, meanwhile, refused to die quietly. Having been cancelled as a weapon, it was repurposed as the first stage of the European Europa satellite launcher, and flew in that role. Britain\u2019s abandoned ballistic missile spent its second career trying to put Europe into orbit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;British Intelligence reports in the early 1950&rsquo;s suggested that future developments in Soviet defensive surface to air missiles (SAMs) would cause increased vulnerability of the V-bombers to SAM strikes by the 1960s.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Vulcan to the Sky Trust<\/strong> &mdash; on why the V-bombers needed a stand-off weapon<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Richard E. Neustadt, Skybolt Report to the President, 15 November 1963 (declassified 1992); Vulcan to the Sky Trust; UK National Archives; US Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States 1961&ndash;63; British Path&eacute;.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TAH4tIDfIbM\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>A modern assessment of Blue Streak and what Britain gave up when it cancelled the programme.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Why was Blue Streak cancelled?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Because it used liquid propellant and had to be fuelled before launch, which made it too slow to react to a Soviet first strike while sitting in a fixed silo. A missile that only works if you shoot first is not a deterrent. The British cabinet decided to cancel it in February 1960.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was the Skybolt missile?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt was an American air-launched ballistic missile designed to be carried under a bomber wing and released at altitude, giving the aircraft roughly a thousand miles of stand-off range. Britain planned to arm its V-bombers with it, fitted with British warheads.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did the United States cancel Skybolt?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">It was expensive and the United States did not need it. Minuteman was going into silos and Polaris was going to sea, so an air-launched ballistic missile solved a problem America had already solved twice. For Britain, which had built its entire deterrent plan around it, the position was very different.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was the Skybolt Crisis?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The diplomatic rupture caused when Washington moved to cancel Skybolt in late 1962, weeks after the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaving Britain with no delivery system for its nuclear deterrent. News reached London partly through the press, and it strained the special relationship badly.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was the Nassau Agreement?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The agreement concluded between Kennedy and Macmillan in the Bahamas on 21 December 1962, ending the Skybolt Crisis. The United States agreed to supply Britain with Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missiles instead. Skybolt was formally cancelled the following day.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How did the cancellations change the British deterrent?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Fundamentally. Polaris is carried by submarines, so responsibility passed from the Royal Air Force to the Royal Navy, a transfer completed in 1969. The RAF had held Britain\u2019s strategic nuclear deterrent since 1945 and has never held it since.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What happened to Blue Streak after cancellation?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">It was repurposed as the first stage of the European Europa satellite launcher and flew in that role. Britain\u2019s abandoned ballistic missile spent its second career as a space launch vehicle rather than a weapon.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can civilians fly in a V-bomber?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No, but civilian fast-jet flights are genuinely available in types such as the MiG-29, L-39 Albatros and Hawker Hunter, the last of which flew alongside the V-force in RAF service. MiGFlug arranges them; current types and prices are on the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">flights and prices page<\/a>.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why was Blue Streak cancelled?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Because it used liquid propellant and had to be fuelled before launch, which made it too slow to react to a Soviet first strike while sitting in a fixed silo. A missile that only works if you shoot first is not a deterrent. The British cabinet decided to cancel it in February 1960.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Skybolt missile?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt was an American air-launched ballistic missile designed to be carried under a bomber wing and released at altitude, giving the aircraft roughly a thousand miles of stand-off range. Britain planned to arm its V-bombers with it, fitted with British warheads.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did the United States cancel Skybolt?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It was expensive and the United States did not need it. Minuteman was going into silos and Polaris was going to sea, so an air-launched ballistic missile solved a problem America had already solved twice. For Britain, which had built its entire deterrent plan around it, the position was very different.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Skybolt Crisis?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The diplomatic rupture caused when Washington moved to cancel Skybolt in late 1962, weeks after the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaving Britain with no delivery system for its nuclear deterrent. News reached London partly through the press, and it strained the special relationship badly.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Nassau Agreement?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The agreement concluded between Kennedy and Macmillan in the Bahamas on 21 December 1962, ending the Skybolt Crisis. The United States agreed to supply Britain with Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missiles instead. Skybolt was formally cancelled the following day.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How did the cancellations change the British deterrent?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Fundamentally. Polaris is carried by submarines, so responsibility passed from the Royal Air Force to the Royal Navy, a transfer completed in 1969. The RAF had held Britain\u2019s strategic nuclear deterrent since 1945 and has never held it since.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What happened to Blue Streak after cancellation?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It was repurposed as the first stage of the European Europa satellite launcher and flew in that role. Britain\u2019s abandoned ballistic missile spent its second career as a space launch vehicle rather than a weapon.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Can civilians fly in a V-bomber?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No, but civilian fast-jet flights are genuinely available in types such as the MiG-29, L-39 Albatros and Hawker Hunter, the last of which flew alongside the V-force in RAF service. MiGFlug arranges them; current types and prices are on the flights and prices page.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/britains-v-bombers-three-aircraft-one-nuclear-mission\/\">Britain&rsquo;s V-Bombers: Three Aircraft, One Nuclear Mission<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nimrod-aew3-british-radar-failure-1986-cancellation\/\">The Billion-Pound Radar That Never Worked<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/sm-62-snark-cruise-missile-lost-amazon-1956\/\">The Snark: America&rsquo;s Nuclear Cruise Missile That Flew Into the Amazon<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Britain cancelled its own missile, bet the deterrent on an American one, and lost that too. At Nassau it got Polaris instead, and with it the RAF lost the job it was built for.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":22996345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22996826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost the Bomb | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Britain cancelled Blue Streak, bet its deterrent on Skybolt, then lost that too. Nassau 1962 handed the job to the Royal Navy instead.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost the Bomb | MiGFlug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Britain cancelled Blue Streak, bet its deterrent on Skybolt, then lost that too. Nassau 1962 handed the job to the Royal Navy instead.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-17T10:51:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-17T10:52:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3\"},\"headline\":\"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost Britain&rsquo;s Bomb\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-17T10:51:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-17T10:52:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1766,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; Legends\",\"Military Aviation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/\",\"name\":\"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost the Bomb | MiGFlug\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-17T10:51:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-17T10:52:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"Britain cancelled Blue Streak, bet its deterrent on Skybolt, then lost that too. Nassau 1962 handed the job to the Royal Navy instead.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853,\"caption\":\"A Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile in RAF roundels beneath a V-bomber wing\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost Britain&rsquo;s Bomb\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\\/w:897\\\/h:278\\\/q:mauto\\\/ig:avif\\\/https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\\/w:897\\\/h:278\\\/q:mauto\\\/ig:avif\\\/https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3\",\"name\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\"},\"description\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy covers French and European aerospace, from Rafale and Airbus to NATO strategy and the continent\u2019s defence industry.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/de\\\/author\\\/fortuneleroy\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost the Bomb | MiGFlug","description":"Britain cancelled Blue Streak, bet its deterrent on Skybolt, then lost that too. Nassau 1962 handed the job to the Royal Navy instead.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_title":"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost the Bomb | MiGFlug","og_description":"Britain cancelled Blue Streak, bet its deterrent on Skybolt, then lost that too. Nassau 1962 handed the job to the Royal Navy instead.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-09-17T10:51:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-17T10:52:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":853,"url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/"},"author":{"name":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3"},"headline":"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost Britain&rsquo;s Bomb","datePublished":"2026-09-17T10:51:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-17T10:52:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/"},"wordCount":1766,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg","articleSection":["History &amp; Legends","Military Aviation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/","name":"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost the Bomb | MiGFlug","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg","datePublished":"2026-09-17T10:51:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-17T10:52:07+00:00","description":"Britain cancelled Blue Streak, bet its deterrent on Skybolt, then lost that too. Nassau 1962 handed the job to the Royal Navy instead.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/douglas-gam-87-skybolt-raf-markings.jpg","width":1280,"height":853,"caption":"A Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile in RAF roundels beneath a V-bomber wing"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/skybolt-blue-streak-nassau-1962-british-deterrent\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Skybolt and Blue Streak: How the RAF Lost Britain&rsquo;s Bomb"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","name":"Afterburner \u2013 MiGFlugs Magazin","description":"F\u00fcr alle, die sich f\u00fcr das Fliegen von Milit\u00e4rjets und verwandte Luftfahrtthemen interessieren.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3","name":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy"},"description":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy berichtet \u00fcber die franz\u00f6sische und europ\u00e4ische Luft- und Raumfahrt, von Rafale und Airbus bis hin zur NATO-Strategie und der Verteidigungsindustrie des Kontinents.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/author\/fortuneleroy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22996826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22996826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22996826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22996985,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22996826\/revisions\/22996985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22996345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22996826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22996826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22996826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}