V bomber

Avro Vulcan

Handley Page Victor

Vickers Valiant

The term V bomber was used for 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 bombers, whose names all started with the letter "V" and which were known collectively as the V-class, were the Vickers Valiant (first flew 1951, entered service 1955), Handley Page Victor (first flew 1952, in service 1958) and Avro Vulcan (first flew 1952, in service 1956). The V-Bomber force reached its peak in June 1964, with 50 Valiants, 39 Victors and 70 Vulcans in service.

History

Early development

RAF Bomber Command ended World War II with a policy of using heavy four-piston-engined bombers for massed raids, and remained committed to this policy in the immediate post-war period, adopting the Avro Lincoln, an updated version of the World War Two Lancaster, as their standard bomber.

The development of jet aircraft and nuclear weapons soon made this policy obsolete. The future appeared to belong to jet bombers that could fly at high altitude and speed, without defensive armament, to perform a nuclear strike on a target. Even at the time there were those who could see that guided missiles would eventually make such aircraft vulnerable, but development of such missiles was proving difficult, and fast and high-flying bombers were likely to serve for years before there was a need for something better.

Massed bombers were unnecessary if a single bomber could destroy an entire city or military installation with a nuclear weapon. It would have to be a large bomber, since the first generation of nuclear weapons were big and heavy. Such a large and advanced bomber would be expensive on a unit basis, but would also be produced in much smaller quantities.

The arrival of the Cold War also emphasised to British military planners the need to modernise UK forces. Furthermore, the United Kingdom's uncertain military relationship with the United States, particularly in the immediate postwar years when American isolationism made a short-lived comeback, led the UK to decide it needed its own strategic nuclear strike force.

After considering various specifications for such an advanced jet bomber in late 1946, the Air Ministry issued a request in January 1947 for an advanced jet bomber that would be at least the equal of anything the U.S. or the USSR had. The request followed the guidelines of the earlier Specification B.35/46, which proposed a "medium-range bomber landplane, capable of carrying one 10,000 pound (4,535 kg) bomb to a target 1,500 nautical miles (2,775 km) from a base which may be anywhere in the world."

The RAF's then-current jet bomber the English Electric Canberra, introduced in May 1951, could only have reached the Soviet border and had a capacity of 6,000 lb (2,720 kg).

The request also indicated that the fully loaded weight should not exceed 100,000 pounds (45,400 kg), though this would be adjusted upward in practice; that the bomber have a cruise speed of 500 knots (925 km/h); and that it have a service ceiling of 50,000 feet (15,200 m).

The request went to most of the United Kingdom's major aircraft manufacturers. Handley Page and Avro came up with very advanced designs for the bomber competition, which would become the Victor and the Vulcan respectively, and the Air Staff decided to award contracts to both companies, as a form of insurance. While the Vickers-Armstrong submission had been rejected as too conservative, Vickers lobbied the Air Ministry and made changes to meet their concerns, and managed to sell the Vickers Valiant design on the basis that it would be available much sooner than the competition, and would be useful as a "stopgap" until the more advanced bombers were available.

At the same time the Air Ministry accepted a proposal from Short Brothers for a lesser specification that would be produced as the SA4 "Sperrin" if none of the other designs came to fruition.

In service

The Valiant entered service in 1955, the Vulcan in 1956 and the Victor in April 1958, with the first Valiant squadron, No. 138 Squadron RAF forming at RAF Gaydon in 1955, and the first Vulcan squadron, No. 83, at RAF Waddington in May 1957. The first operational Victor squadron was No. 10 Squadron RAF The Valiant arrived in service first, equipped with nuclear weapons supplied by the U.S. under Project E that supplemented the British Blue Danube and later Red Beard. The American weapons supplied under Project E were of course not ever available for the RAF to use as part of the UK's national nuclear deterrent. Only British-owned weapons could be used for that purpose. Although often referred-to as part of the V-force, the Valiants were actually assigned to SACEUR as part of the TBF (Tactical Bomber Force), although remaining nominally part of Bomber Command. The Vulcan and Victor were armed with British-built bombs Blue Danube, Red Beard, Violet Club the the Interim Megaton Weapon and Yellow Sun of both versions, the Mk1 and Mk.2. Despite the technical obstacles of the British nuclear arm, the V-Bombers still constituted an effective military force. A white paper produced by the Royal Air Force for the British government in 1961 claimed that the RAF's nuclear force was capable of destroying key Soviet cities such as Moscow and Kiev before bomber aircraft from the United States' Strategic Air Command reached their targets, "taking into account Bomber Command’s ability to be on target in the first wave several hours in advance of the main SAC force operating from bases in the United States.". Throughout the early stages of the Cold War, NATO relied on the Royal Air Force to threaten key cities in European Russia. The RAF concluded that the V-Bomber force was capable of killing eight million Soviet citizens and wounding another eight million before American bombers reached their targets.

All of the V-bombers would see active service at least once albeit with conventional bombs; the Valiant in the Suez Crisis in 1956, the Victor in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation of 1962-66, and the Vulcan in the Falklands War long after the strategic nuclear role had been passed over to the Royal Navy. The Valiant was the only one to drop a nuclear device, as part of British tests.

Rundown

The development of effective anti-aircraft missiles made the deterrent threat increasingly threadbare. After the cancellation of the Blue Streak missile program and the cancellation of the American Skybolt and with the Blue Steel missile already in service, six squadrons of Vulcan B2s were re-equipped with the WE.177B strategic laydown bomb from 1966 until being replaced in the strategic role in 1969 by the Polaris missile launched from nuclear submarines of the Royal Navy. The WE.177 equipped Vulcans were supplemented by the two Victor squadrons equipped with Blue Steel (modified for low-level launch) that continued to serve in the strategic delivery role until 1968 ended. Although relieved of their role as the deliverer of the UK strategic nuclear deterrent, the Vulcan squadrons continued to serve with the same WE.177B weapon in a low-level penetration role assigned to SACEUR for use in a tactical role in Europe. Six squadrons of Vulcans were still assigned this role with the WE.177 weapon in 1981. The last four remaining squadrons were about to disband in 1982 when called upon to assist in the Falklands.

The Valiant was removed from service as a nuclear bomber first; taking on roles as a tanker, low level attack and photo-reconnaissance. Fatigue problems meant they were removed from service completely by 1965. Victors were converted to replace the Valiant tankers. The Vulcan alone of the threesome, retained a nuclear delivery role until the end of their planned service life scheduled for 1982. The short extension as tankers until 1984 was an unexpected extension to meet operational emergencies.

In addition to the roles they were designed for, all three V-Bombers served as air-to-air refuelling tankers at one time or another; the Valiant was the RAF's first large scale tanker. As a means of replacing the loss of the Valiant, Victor B.1s were converted into the AAR role. When the Victor was withdrawn from service as a bomber, a number of B.2s were then converted into tankers. Finally, due to delays in the entry into service of the TriStar, six Vulcan B.2s were converted into tankers, and served from 1982 to 1984.

Popular culture

• In the 1960 Cold War novel Village of Stars by David Beaty (writing as Paul Stanton), an RAF V-bomber of the fictional 'Venger' type is sent to drop a nuclear bomb on a rebel force in the Middle East. The situation eases before the plane reaches its destination, but the ordnance can't be defused. While the crew and experts on the ground try to find a solution, the jet cruises across Europe and Africa. Alfred Hitchcock planned to base a Paramount movie on the book, but the project was never realized.
• On February 8, 2007, the Royal Air Force Museum opened an exhibition about the story of the cold war, featuring V-Bombers of all types. The museum's director general, Dr Michael Fopp, stated the goal was "people will leave feeling better informed about what happened in the second half of the 20th Century."
• In the James Bond film Thunderball, an Avro Vulcan doubles as the Vindicator bomber from which Emilio Largo steals the nuclear weapons.

See also

• List of V Bomber dispersal bases

References

• Brookes, Andrew (1982). V Force: The History of Britain's Airborne Deterrent. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd. pp. 173 + vii. ISBN 0 7106 0238 3. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)