British Secret Projects:
Hypersonics, Ramjets and Missiles

By Chris Gibson & Tony Buttler
Midland Publishing, ©2007
ISBN 978-1-85780-258-0
Hardbound, 208 Pages
Available from Specialty Press for $44.95

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

The newest subject in the British Secret Projects series covers some really interesting aircraft: hypersonics, ramjets, and missiles. While much attention has been given to the piloted aircraft, the weapons they carried (or, in this case, hoped to carry) generally are ignored or lightly covered. This book reverses that trend, with detailed examinations on many different kinds of missiles. Coupled with the high-speed aircraft included, this book expands nicely on the existing titles in this series.

The book begins with a brief overview of the background of British guided weapons and test vehicles, and then dives into the missiles. Seven chapters cover different types of missiles, making up the majority of this book. The projects covered include the Red Top, the Red Duster & Blue Envoy, and Blue Boar & Green Cheese. Not only are the projects themselves interesting, their names are sometimes rather humorous as well.

The remainder of the book deals with the hypersonic and ramjet aircraft. Both of these subjects were at the forefront of research in many countries, including the US and the USSR, in addition to Britain. To keep pace, Britain pursued these two fields as well, and the sections on these two types of propulsion are quite thorough. Not only do they describe British-specific projects, they also explain in detail just how these propulsion systems work.

While the ‘Secret Project’ title suggests that there are only paper projects included in these pages, many of these paper projects evolved into production weapons (such as the Red Duster and Blue Envoy, which turned into the Bloodhound missile). This is a nice continuation of the British Secret Project series. My thanks to Specialty Press for the review copy.