Bristol Aero engines developed the Olympus BE.10 as a high power (10000lb) two spool turbojet for the RAF V-bombers to meet spec TE.1/46. By various modifications, including adding a zero stage, thrust was raised to 20000lb. It entered service on the Vulcan bomber, but had such potential, it was further developed as a supersonic powerplant for the TSR2 strike aircraft.
This involved modifying the Olympus and in particular adding a reheat section. This was longer than the engine itself (as was the case with all early turbojets) but this saw the thrust rise to 30610lb. This was the Olympus 22R Mk 320. Despite not a few problems this engine gave the TSR2 superlative performance.
The Olympus 22R formed the basis of the powerplant for the forthcoming SST, with further modifications raising dry thrust to 29300lb and reheated thrust to 39940lb. This is the Mk 621 as used on Concorde.
The Olympus was proposed for a variety of applications, from supersonic fighters and hypersonic research aircraft (as a combination powerplant with ramjet) to the other end of the scale, powering warships.
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