It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a development of the famous wartime Avro Lancaster bomber. The Shackleton was developed during the late 1940s as part of Britain's military response to the rapid expansion of the Soviet Navy, in particular its submarine force. Produced as the primary type equipping RAF Coastal Command, the Type 696, as it was initially designated, incorporated major elements of the Lincoln, as well as the Avro Tudor passenger aircraft, and was furnished with extensive electronics suites in order to perform the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission along with a much-improved crew environment to accommodate the long mission times involved in patrol work. Being known for a short time as the Lincoln ASR.3, it was decided that the Type 696 would be named Shackleton in service, after the polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. The Type 696 was a significant development upon the Lincoln. Elements of the Avro Tudor airliner were also reused in the design; Lincoln and Tudor had been derivatives of the successful wartime Avro Lancaster bomber.Crucially, the new aircraft was to be capable of a 3,000-nautical-mile (3,500 mi; 5,600 km) range while carrying up to 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) of weapons and equipment. In addition to featuring a large amount of electronic equipment, the Type 696 had a much-improved crew environment over other aircraft types to allow them to be more effective during the lengthy mission times anticipated. During development the Type 696 was provisionally referred to as the Lincoln ASR.3 before the officially allocated name 'Shackleton' was selected. A total of 185 units were built. For more information on development and operational history, click here.
