The Lightning that never flew

[Deskpilot]

Doing some research today and I got a bit off track but came across the attached silhouettes. Now, I was servicing Lightnings right up to the introduction of the Jaguar, and I never heard of a possible follow-on mark, let alone a swing wing. Not sure when the first s/wing anything flew but this would have been a pretty advanced design for it's time. I wish I could find more info, particularly a 3d view. It's obviously more armed than the existing types and with it's 'solid nose', it's frontal appearance would be intriguing to say the least.

 

Added info: Found this the following day.

 

Much more could have been made of the Lightning if the will had been there. As mentioned, the Saudi T.55 could have been the basis for a really capable machine. EE / BAC also proposed a number of significantly improved variants, one of the most impressive being a navalized Lightning proposed in the late 1960s with an improved long-range derivative of the AIRPASS radar, in a solid nose; side-mounted air intakes; variable-geometry outer wings ("swing wings") like those of the Soviet Su-17 to permit carrier landings; greater fuel capacity and less thirsty, more powerful engines; and armament of four missiles, not just two. It didn't happen.

 

[ATTACH]6134[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]6135[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

 

[F22]

Is there any special name for the nose where the cone appears seperate to the fuselage?

 

From an overall look it appears almost identical to the mig21 minus the shape of the wings