English Electric Lightning

The English Electric Lightning (later known as BAC Lightning) is the first British fighter to achieve twice the speed of sound. The plane was constructed in the 1960s (339 copies were built). On October 29, 1959, the first serial version of the fighter was tested—Lightning F.1. The aircraft was powered by Avon 200R engines. The main armament consisted of two self-guided Firestreak air-to-air missiles, which were unusually mounted on the pylons on the sides of the fuselage. In addition, two 30 mm ADEN fixed cannons were mounted on the nose of the plane. In the F.2 version, minor improvements were made to the avionics. Engines were replaced with slightly improved Avon 210R units. The external difference was the small air intake on the spine of the fuselage for the electric generator.