Hugh Harkins

Xf-103 Hugh Harkins

Republic XF-103Conceived in the late 1940's as a high speed, high altitude air defence interceptor and developed through the 1950's as a Mach 3 interceptor capable of operating against Soviet strategic bombers in stratosphere and possibly extending toward the mesosphere, the Republic XF-103 (Model AP-57) was an unsuccessful entrant in the USAF MX-1554 competition that fielded the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger interceptor. Post-MX-1554, the XF-103 took on the mantle of a research program to prove technologies applicable to a future generation mid-supersonic - Mach 3 - interceptor. However, like the later North American F-108 Mach 3 interceptor concept, the XF-103 was ultimately doomed due to cost and a looming redundancy facilitated by a shifting strategic threat in the shape of the intercontinental ballistic missile, which was in its infancy when the XF-103 program was cancelled in 1959. This volume looks at the genesis and development of the various iterations of the Republic XF-103 from program inception through cancellation in 1959. The volume is supported by photographs, technical drawings, renderings and planned performance charts from the contractor and intended operator. There is a deliberate switch from metric measurements to the fore and imperial measurements secondary in chapter one to imperial to the fore and metric secondary in subsequent chapters. This has been done to ensure 100% accuracy in primary measurement reporting from respective designer/test organisations, whereas secondary measurements may, at times, be rounded to the nearest cm or kg.