The British Jet that was faster than anything ever built... the Vickers 559

The Vickers Armstrong Type 559 was designed by Vickers to go toe to toe with the Soviets in the Battle of Britain in the skies in 1955 .

The super-fast bombers could fly at Mac 1.5 , dashing within a country's borders and leaving a nuclear present behind.

The British engineers at Vicars came up with a radical new aircraft design that would have put the Russians on the back burner.

Reheating the exhaust gas after burning significantly increases the thrust.

Aircraft would then have two wings at the rear of the fuselage with two end plates, including twin rudders, giving room for rocket boosters.

Aircraft was able to climb up to a height of 60,000 feet in 2 minutes at a speed of Mac 2.5 , smashing the program requirements.

The AW169 and Fairleys D3 design were considered to be the two best contenders.

The D3 was selected to begin prototyping, but it would never get built.

The project was then cancelled, but the work wasn't wasted.

In the 60 's the British Aircraft Corporation merged with the English Electric Lightning .