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This lockheed concept jet can not only fly at Mach 2.2, but land vertically using 1950s engine technology. It would have been able to fly longer ranges, intercept enemy bombers and even deliver an atomic payload.

But it never made it off the drawing board and was considered too advanced for its time,

This is the story of the neverbuilt, mysterious, CL346.

One of the challenges that air forces around the globe faced during world war two, was that there needed to be an airstrip long enough to launch aircraft and close enough to enemy targets. Capturing islands was a priority, as they could hold as many aircraft as needed, or act as refueling stops from the mainland. But some places in the world there was no land to build long runways. Thus in turn the military built aircraft carriers that could at launch aircraft at sea but there were limitations to aircraft design. the solution?

A vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can hover, take off, and land vertically. Generally speaking, VTOL aircraft capable of rolling takeoffs like normal planes, use it wherever possible, since it typically significantly increases takeoff weight, range or payload compared to pure VTOL.

There are several advantages to using VTOL. One being space for takeoffs. The US navy was particularly interested in aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing aboard platforms mounted on the afterdecks of conventional ships. These planes would also be stationed at military bases that didn't have runways, or be located on city rooftops themselves.

The military of the 1950s was very keen to exploit these advantages, coming up with a program to develop the next generation VTOL fighter.

The jet would need to vertical take off and land at 2000 feet above sea level, at exactly 90 degrees
Delivery nuclear weapons of at least 1000 pounds, visually dropping it like a bomber.
Or alternatively, load four sidewinder missiles for antibomber duties
Fly at least over mach 1 at sea level, and over mach 2 at 35,000 feet.
Fly to a top altitude of 60,000 feet
And capable of supersonic flight at high altitude, and subsonic slow flight under 300 feet. Obviously, considering the last two specifications this would be a given but its interesting that the air force took the time to list it.
Have a range to fly 2132 nautical miles, 3948 kilometers, and then return to base. Or be able to fly at least 3600 nautical miles, 6667 km, fully loaded with no return.

This jet, called the CL346.

It was a high wing monoplane with a lowhorizontal tail service. It would have two General Electric J79X207 engines mounted in its wingtip nacelles. The engines would have allowed normal supersonic flight, which i'll get to in a minute, but be able to rotate to allow vertical landing.

Engineers estimated that this rotation from vertical to horizontal flight would have taken around 30 seconds, allowing for the plane to rapidly responcd to nearby threats, or critical missions. The cockpit was also designed to slop slightly downward to give it good lines of sight for landing approaches.

At sea level, the C346 would have had a top speed of Mach 1, or 1225.04 kph, and then a very fast Mach 2.2, 2450.09 kph, at 35,000 feet. It could also exceed the goal of a high altitude performace of 60,000 by an extra 5000 feet, to a total of 65,000 or 19.8 km above sea level.

The Lockheed VTOL creation also had an impressive combat performance, able to climb as quickly at 55,000 feet per minute, or 16 kilometers, to a range of 600 nautical miles. When not in combat, the planes fuel tanks allowed it to cruise to 3600 nautical miles, or 6667 kilometers, right on the target for the study.

When on the gorund, it didn't actually move on its own power but actually had a small triangle ground handling cart to move it from the hanger to the take off pad. This was seen as a fair comprimise as technically at any point the plane could just take off anyway, so why have the weight to drive it forward.

But the engineers at Lockheed were not done yet, and would actually go on to create several more varients of this VTOL plane, in an effort to improve on their concept

So why was the CL346 or any of its brothers or sisters, never built?

The study concluded that it would indeed be possible to build this aircraft, and the ARDC passed on its findings to the air force. Today we know that the Air Force, and Navy, were working with several other candidates to produce a vertical take off aircraft like Bell, who was working on the Bell D188A.

VTOL fighter designs would bounce around, with the german EWR VJ 101 getting really close in the 1960s with a prototype built, then the Mirage 8 and the Hawker Siddeley P.1154 which would finally result in the Harrier Jump Jet we know today. The only modern aircraft of equivalence is the Lockheed Martin F35, which I guess we could say can trace its roots back to its grandfather, the humble CL346.