SUB – CUTANEOUS
Project E US Mk 7 Bombs for the RAF Canberra Force
SAM SUBS S EC T ION
By Paul Lucas
Project Emily’ or ‘Project E’ as it was usually referred to, was the code name under which provision was made for those RAF aircraft assigned to Supreme Allied Commander Europe to be supplied with United States nuclear weapons in wartime. This arrangement came about as a result of US refusal to share its expertise in the construction of nuclear weapons post war despite British participation in the Manhattan Project from the very beginning and a wartime promise that the fruits of atomic research would be shared equally between the two nations.
Whilst Britain went on to develop its own nuclear capability post war, the whole process of acquiring nuclear weapons took some time and with the advent of the Cold War, by the early 1950s it had become apparent that it would be to the advantage of the US if Britain were allowed access to a modest number of weapons from the US stockpile under wartime conditions so as to allow the RAF to play a full role in the conflict and greatly increase the effectiveness of the British Tactical Air Forces in supporting Allied armies on the Continent.