V Bombers: Avro Vulcan, Handley Page Victor, And Vickers Valiant, The Last British Cold War Bombers

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The V-Force consisted of three four-jet bombers, the Valiant, the Vulcan, and the Victor, all required as part of the nuclear deterrent in the Cold War following the end of the Second World War. The Valiant was less aerodynamically advanced than the other two and went into service in 1955. The Vulcan entered service in 1956 and the Victor a year later. The Valiant finished operating in 1965 and the Vulcan in 1984. The later Victors were converted into refueling tankers and carried on until 1993.

The “V bombers” were the Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft during the 1950s and 1960s that comprised the United Kingdom’s strategic nuclear strike force known officially as the V force or Bomber Command Main Force. The three models of strategic bomber, known collectively as the V class, were the Vickers Valiant, which first flew in 1951 and entered service in 1955; the Avro Vulcan, which first flew in 1952 and entered service in 1956; and the Handley Page Victor, which first flew in 1952 and entered service in 1957. The V Bomber force reached its peak in June 1964 with 50 Valiants, 70 Vulcans, and 39 Victors in service.

When it became clear that the Soviet Union’s surface-to-air missiles like the S-75 Dvina could bring down high-flying aircraft, the V bomber force changed to low-level attack methods. Additionally, the Blue Steel missile profile was changed to one of low-level penetration and release. This reduced its range significantly. It was then planned to move to the much longer-ranged Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile. When the US canceled Skybolt, the survivability of the V force was highly questionable. This led to the Royal Navy taking over the nuclear deterrent role in 1968, using UGM-27 Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missiles launched from nuclear submarines. The tactical role passed to smaller aircraft like the SEPECAT Jaguar and Panavia Tornado.

The V bombers were also capable of dropping conventional weapons, supported by a complex analog computer system known as the Navigation and Bombing System that allowed accurate bombing even over very long ranges. The Valiants were used during the Suez Crisis as conventional bombers. Victors and Vulcans were deployed to the Malay Archipelago as a deterrent during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation but were not used in missions. The Vulcan is well-remembered for its conventional Black Buck bombing raids during the 1982 Falklands War. To support such missions, tanker aircraft versions of all three designs were developed. Reconnaissance versions were produced, and other modifications were also made during their lifetime.

The Valiants were removed from service in 1964 after problems with the metal fatigue of their wings became apparent; a planned low-level variant did not progress beyond the prototype. Usage of all V bombers as weapons platforms, nuclear or conventional, ended in 1982.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command ended the Second World War with a policy of using heavy four-piston-engined bombers for mass raids and remained committed to this policy in the immediate post-war period. The RAF adopted the Avro Lincoln, an updated version of the wartime Avro Lancaster, as its standard bomber for this purpose. Production of the Lincoln continued after the war, and eventually 450 were built. Although touted as a mighty bomber in 1945, it lacked the range to reach targets in the Soviet Union and would be vulnerable to the new jet fighters that were then under development.

Elements within the RAF and the government sought to adopt the new nuclear weaponry and advances in aviation technology to introduce more potent and effective means of conducting warfare. In November 1944, the UK Chiefs of Staff requested a report from Sir Henry Tizard on potential future means of warfare. Reporting without knowledge of the progress of Allied efforts to produce an atomic bomb, in July 1945 the Tizard Committee urged the encouragement of large-scale atomic energy research. It foresaw the devastating effects of atomic weapons and envisaged high-flying jet bombers cruising at 500 mph (800 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,000 m). It was thought that potential aggressors might be deterred by the knowledge that Britain would retaliate with atomic weapons if attacked.

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18 thoughts on “V Bombers: Avro Vulcan, Handley Page Victor, And Vickers Valiant, The Last British Cold War Bombers”

  5. Excellent, although some of the American pronunciation is slightly wrong to U.K. ears.. example being the Avon engine, it’s actually pronounced after a river and county in England. So it’s not AVonn but Aivon.. like the beginning of aircraft ..other engines at the time were named after rivers, Trent and Nene.. don’t even get us started on how to pronounce the last one .. as depending on whether you are Northampton or Peterborough the pronunciation changes (normally changes at a place called Oundle.. one side is nen.. the other side neeen and at no point is it pronounced nene)

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  15. I'm from Newark-upon-Trent
    ( Google it)
    and you can see…
    These were our "neighbours"
    RAF Syston – right next door across the fields 1-2 miles away
    RAF Waddington- 25 miles
    RAF Scampton- 40 miles away

    Molesworth was only 60 miles away!!

    In the White papers
    During the
    1980s scenarios exercises, (eg, Black Rock , startex,)
    RAF Syston, was used as the UK's 1st "target"
    –

    20 October

    At 1am, the Air Defence Operations Centre reports a large-scale missile launch from Soviet territory. Ten minutes later, a 150-kiloton hydrogen bomb detonates over RAF Scampton…

    So we would have been glass and ash

    We knew what the VBG were designed to do !!!
    And we knew that they keep the peace

    Such total respect for the RAF , especially the crews.. such responsibility
    Such brave folks.

    Thank you all ❤

    Ps.. if its ok to recommend a book ..

    Struggle for Survival
    Written by Steve Fox.

    Governing Britain after the Bomb

    The 1955 Defence White Paper said that a future war would result in a “struggle for survival of the grimmest kind”. This book examines the way in which the government in Britain prepared for that struggle during the Cold War and the work done, often in complete secrecy by the civil and home defence planners at all levels.

    Great video 😊

    Pps….

    May sense and sensibility
    Lead and prevail

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  17. Used to see them all regularly, flying right over my house as a child, usually in a triangle formation, vulcans literally blocking out the sun. Have never forgotten the sight or the sounds. Living in Bomber County as a child, in between the flight lines of four famous airbases and squadrons had it's advantages, even though my mother used to deplore them for the noise !! Thank you for sharing. ♥️

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  18. Amazing technology and aircraft for the time. I remember as a teenager at the time the cold War was a frightening experience but we had to live with it and to a certain degree still do . Brilliant video brought back a lot of memories some not nice. Many thanks.

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