Armstrong Whitworth AW.681
1960s British military transport aircraft design study
The Armstrong Whitworth AW.681, also known as the Whitworth Gloster 681 or Hawker Siddeley HS.681, was a projected British long-range STOL military transport aircraft design of the early 1960s. Developed by manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, it was intended to be capable of achieving both Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) and Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) performance.
The AW.681 was designed to satisfy the performance specification of Operational Requirement 351, which had been heavily influenced by the NATO specification NBMR-4. Both Armstrong Whitworth and the British Aircraft Corporation vigorously competed to be awarded the contract, as well as engine manufacturing Bristol-Siddeley and Rolls-Royce Ltd to power it. Both submissions had to be revised heavily following an update to the Requirement that added VTOL performance. Armstrong Whitworth's AW.681 submission emerged as the favoured option for selection.
On 5 March 1962, Armstrong Whitworth received UK Government authorisation to proceed with a detailed project study and the construction of a prototype, which was projected to fly around 1966. However, following a change in government, during February 1965, the cancellation of the HS.681 programme was announced. Despite efforts to cheapen the design by Armstrong Whitworth, culminating in the HS.802 proposal, there was no reversal of this decision. Following the AW.681's termination, it was decided to purchase the American-built Lockheed Hercules as an off-the-shelf means of fulfilling the RAF's transport requirements instead.
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