The aircraft recorded significant improvements on previous Avro designs, most crucially with its increased patrol range of up to 3,000 nautical miles, as well as featuring the capacity to instal large amounts of newly-developed electronic surveillance equipment within the fuselage.
The Avro Shackleton MR.2 (WB833) first flew on 17th June 1952, and carried a number of improvements initially conceived for the Avro Shackleton MR.1. These included a more streamlined nose, an improved radar installation and changing to a retractable ‘dustbin’ radome mounted under the fuselage aft of the bomb bay.
The nose and tail gun armament were deleted, although the mid-upper turret was initially retained (but subsequently deleted from all aircraft once in service). Twin retractable tail-wheels replaced the original single wheel fixed unit.
59 Avro Shackleton MR.2 were ordered, supplemented by 10 aircraft from the Avro 696 Shackleton MR.1 production line that were completed as Avro Shackleton MR.2s.
Eight Avro 716 Shackleton MR.3 aircraft were purchased for use by the South African Air Force in 1953, in order to monitor Soviet vessels in the sea lanes around the Cape of Good Hope. This was also the location of a number of search and rescue missions.
Production of the Avro 716 Shackleton MR.3 comprised 34 aircraft for the RAF and 8 for the South African Air Force, whilst a number of Avro 696 Shackleton MR.1 and MR.1A aircraft were modified for use as radio and navigation trainers, with the designation Avro Shackleton T. Mk.4.
The long endurance of the Avro 696 Shackleton was demonstrated at the 1960 SBAC Show at Farnborough, where on each day of the show, an aircraft took off at the start of the flying display, to return a full twenty-four hours later.
Like the Avro 652 Anson and the Avro 698 Vulcan, the Avro 696 Shackleton was destined to have an extremely long service life, with the last aircraft being retired in 1991, forty-two years after the first flight of the prototype. The Avro 716 Shackleton MR.3 aircraft operated at significantly increased gross weight and because of this, it suffered a reduced fatigue life.
When a gap in the UK Airborne Early Warning (AEW) capability emerged (due to problems with the proposed BAe Nimrod AEW and an inevitable delay before the Boeing E-3 Sentry could be introduced), the decision was taken to modify the Avro 696 Shackleton MR.2 to undertake the AEW role.
- Avro Shackleton 696 Prototypes (3)
- Avro Shackleton 696 MR.1/1A (77)
- Avro Shackleton 696MR.2 (59)
- Avro Shackleton 716 MR.3 (34)
- Avro shackleton 716 MR3 for SAAF (8)
Specification
| Avro Shackleton MR.2 | |
| Powerplant | Four 2,450 hp Rolls-Royce Griffon 57A engines (augmented in MR3 - Phase 3 by two 2,500 lbst Viper turbojets, one in the rear of each outboard nacelle). |
| Span | 120 ft 0in (MR.3 119ft 10in) |
| Maximum Weight | 86,000 lb (MR.3 100,000 lb) |
| Capacity & equipment | Up to ten crew typically. Retractable radar in lower fuselage behind bomb bay. Typical load (MR.3) of 14,000 lbs of bombs, depth charges and sonar buoys. In MR.3, cannon positioned in nose with mid-upper turret deleted. |
| Maximum Speed | 296 mph |
| Range | 4,215 miles at 200 mph, endurance up to 24 hours |
Variants & Numbers
|
Avro 696 Shackleton
3 prototypes
|
VW126, VW131 & VW135 |
|
Avro 696 Shackleton
MR.Mk.1 - 29 built
|
First production variant |
|
Avro 696 Shackleton MR.Mk.1A - 48 built
|
Four Griffon 57A engines with all surviving MR.1s converted to this configuration |
|
Avro 696 Shackleton T.4
17 Conversions
|
Conversion from MR.1A |
|
Avro 696 Shackleton MR.2 - 59 built
|
Radome moved to the ventral position with system and equipment upgrades. |
|
Avro 696 Shackleton T.2
10 conversions
|
MR. 2 aircraft modified in 1967 to replace T.4s as radar trainers |
|
Avro 696 Shackleton AEW.2 - 12 conversions
|
Converted to AEW role with AN/APS-120 radar under forward fuselage |
|
Avro 716 Shackleton
MR.3 - 42 built
|
Tricycle undercarriage, wing tip tanks, system and equipment upgrades - MR.3 Phase 3 introduced two Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojet engines - wing main spars were also strengthened. |
| Total production | 181 Avro Shackleton aircraft were built, comprising three prototypes, seventy-seven MR.1/1A, fifty-nine MR.2, thirty-four MR.3 and eight additional MR3 aircraft for the SAAF |
Survivors
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Avro 696 Shackleton
MR.2 (WL795)
|
Cornwall Aviation Centre. Newquay , Cornwall
|
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Avro 696 Shackleton MR.2 (WR963/G-SKTN)
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Avro Shackleton Preservation Trust, Coventry Airport
|
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Avro 716 Shackleton MR.3 (WR974)
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Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire
|
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Avro 716 Shackleton MR.3 (WR977)
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Newark Air Museum, England
|
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Avro 716 Shackleton MR.3 (WR982)
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Gatwick Aviation Museum, England
|
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Avro 716 Shackleton
MR.3 (XF708)
|
Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England
|
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Avro 716 Shackleton MR.3 (SAAF1721)
|
SAAF Museum, Swartkop
|
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Avro 716 Shackleton MR.3 (SAAF1722)
|
SAAF Museum at AFB Ysterplaat |
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Avro 716 Shackleton MR.3 (SAAF1723)
|
Vic's Viking Garage, Meredale, Johannesburg |
|
Avro 696 Shackleton MR.2 (WL790/N790WL)
|
Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona, USA
|
|
Avro 696 Shackleton AEW2 (WR960)
|
Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, England www.msimanchester.org.uk |
|
Avro 696 Shackleton AEW2 (WL747&WL757)
|
Derelict end of runway at Paphos Airport, Cyprus |
