The Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt was an air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) developed by the United States during the late 1950s. The basic concept was to allow US strategic bombers to launch their weapons from well outside the range of Soviet defences. To do this in an air-launched form, a lightweight thermonuclear warhead was needed.
The UK joined the Skybolt program in 1960, intending to use it on their V bomber force. When the design added a star tracker in addition to its inertial navigation system (INS) this meant that it could only be carried externally where the tracker could see the sky. This requirement along with the required ground clearance on take-off limited it to the Avro Vulcan bomber. A number of design decisions led the RAF to question its safety, so they intended to use their own Red Snow warheads. This was a heavier warhead and would reduce the range to about 600 miles (970 km), meaning the bombers would have to cross the Soviet coastline to attack Moscow.
Testing began in 1962 and was initially marked by a string of failures. These failures, along with a lack of mission after the successful development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), led to its cancellation in December 1962.The UK had decided to base its entire 1960s deterrent force on Skybolt, and its cancellation led to a major disagreement between the UK and US, known today as the “Skybolt Crisis”.
A series of meetings between the two leaders over three days in the Bahamas followed Kennedy’s announcement of his intention to cancel the Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile project. The US agreed to supply the UK with Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missiles for the UK Polaris programme.
The Nassau Agreement, concluded on 21 December 1962, was an agreement negotiated between President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and Harold Macmillan, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to end the Skybolt Crisis.
Details
- Date of Issue: 15 July 1963
- Date Withdrawn: 14 October 1963
- Date Invalidated:
- Designer:
- Printer: Bradbury Wilkinson & Co Ltd, New Malden, Surrey, England
- Process: Recess
- Paper:
- Watermark: Multi Script CA
- Perf: 11 x 11.5 (comb)
- Plates: [Left pane : Right pane]
- 1 1 : 1a 1a (8d)
- 2 1 : 2a 1a (10d)
- Sheet: Printed in two panes of 120, separated by a gutter. Guillotined through gutter into two single panes (R10 x 6).
- Quantity: Remainders were destroyed at the Police Headquarters incinerator.
- 8d – 7,285 sheets (23 destroyed) – 432,720-524,000 sold
- 10d – 5035 sheets (2649 destroyed) – 143,640-391,880 sold
There appears to be two sheet numbers applied to the overprints. One sheet number in the top right of the sheet (from the original printing), then an a secondary overprint applied next to R1/1 or R10/6 (for the overprint printing).
Subjects
First Day Covers (Unofficial)
References
- British Caribbean Philatelic Journal; Vol.4, No.2; May 1964
- Wikipedia GAM-87 Skybolt
- Wikipedia: Nassau Agreement
