ROCKETRY—COX AND STOIKO 267 
The best-known Anglo-Australian rocket test facility is the Woo- 
mera Range in Australia, the site at which the majority of Britain’s 
missiles have been tested. The Woomera test site consists of a corridor 
that cuts across 1,200 desolate miles of Australia, extending northwest 
to the shores of the Indian Ocean. This test range can easily be in- 
creased to 2,700 miles by extending it to Christmas Island in the Indian 
Ocean. 
Today, as during World War II, the major concern of the British is 
defense, and missiles have been chosen as the best means, as borne 
out by Defense Minister Duncan Sandys’ announcement in April 
1957 that the English Electric P-1 is the last manned fighter; that 
Avro Vulcan B2 and the Handley Page Victor B2 are the last of the 
manned bombers; that all interception of enemy craft in defense of 
England will eventually be made by a single operational air-to-air 
missile, the Firestreak; that pending operational use of an intercon- 
tinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the range of the V-bombers would 
be increased by the use of an air-to-surface missile; and that because of 
the destructive capabilities of nuclear weapons, target defense will 
eventually be restricted to ICBM retaliation bases eliminating old- 
time emphasis on populated area protection. 
In support of this concept, England has developed or is in various 
stages of developing missiles in the basic four categories: air-to-air, 
air-to-surface, surface-to-air, and the ever-important, long-range, sur- 
face-to-surface missile. 
In the air-to-air category, three missiles are of importance—the 
Fireflash, Firestreak, and the Red Dean. The performance of the 
Fireflash, the first operational missile in this category, grew out of 
World War II requirements of the Royal Air Force. The Fireflash is 
currently in use on the Supermarine Swift MK7, the Hawker Hunter, 
and the Avon Sabre fighters. The vehicle configuration is character- 
istic of many British vehicles in that it has wrap-around, solid-pro- 
pellant boost motors. 
It is significant to note that the wrap-around booster technique seems 
to be unique with the British. Normally, missile boosters are attached 
in tandem; ie., the missile is placed on top of the booster. This 
arrangement leads to a long, slim vehicle configuration. In the wrap- 
around configuration, the booster, usually in three or four pairs, is 
placed in parallel around the outside of the main rocket. This arrange- 
ment in turn leads to a short stubby rocket. In either case the boosters 
drop away after firing. It would be most diflicult at this time to state 
that one technique is actually better than the other. 
The second vehicle in this category, the Firestreak, is approxi- 
mately 7 feet in length and somewhat larger than the Fireflash. It 
is propelled by a solid-propellant motor, Its range is 8 miles, and 
