The V-bombers

Valiant

Manufacturer Vickers
Wingspan 34.85 m/114 ft
Length 33.00 m/108 ft
Crew 5
Range 7,424 km/4,614 miles
Armament 9,525 kg/21,000 lb conventional bombs or Blue Danube nuclear bomb and variants

Victor

Manufacturer Handley Page
Wingspan 36.58 m/120 ft
Length 35.05 m/115 ft
Crew 5
Range 7,400 km/4,599 miles
Armament 15,880 kg/35,000 lb conventional bombs or Blue Steel air-to-surface nuclear missile

Vulcan B

Manufacturer Hawker Siddeley (Avro)
Wingspan 33.83 metres/111 feet
Length 30.45 m/100 ft
Crew 5
Range 7,403 kilometres/4,601 miles
Armament 9,525 kilograms/21,000 lb conventional bombs or Yellow Sun nuclear weapon and variants

By October 1952, Britain had developed its own awesome nuclear capability with a 25-kiloton bomb called Hurricane, revealed to the world in tests off Trimouille Island, Australia. However, this power was of little use without a delivery system – a means to get the bomb to its target. At the time, missile technology was still in the early stages of development, so the weapon specialists looked towards the tried and tested method of bomber aircraft delivery.

In these early years of the jet age, the slow, heavy bombers of World War II had become obsolete. Britain needed a new, fast, jet-powered heavy bomber, and as the call went out, three manufacturers replied with designs that were to become collectively known as the 'V-bomber' force.

Victor, Vulcan and Valiant

The Handley Page 'Victor' design was based around the latest thinking in high-performance aircraft. Its swept-back wings dissipated the extreme high pressures encountered at super-fast speeds, making the craft more stable and less stressed. The rival Hawker Siddeley 'Vulcan' bomber was even more advanced. It used a delta wing design borrowed from the Nazi 'wonder weapon' designers of World War II, enabling fantastic control at all speeds.

While development continued on these two aircraft, an intermediate design – the Vickers 'Valiant' – was pressed into service in 1955 to keep up with the pace of Russian jet aviation. Although only a stop-gap, the swept-wing Valiant was streets ahead of its World War II predecessors. It was used at the Maralinga test range in Australia in 1956 to perform the first-ever British air-drop testing of a nuclear weapon, an act that entered Britain into the nuclear race.

All-out nuclear strike

The graceful delta-wing Vulcan was premiered at the 1955 Farnborough Airshow. Its wing gave the aircraft incredible strength, and the space age design made the aircraft something of an icon. However, within only two years, the Victor was ready for service. Although not as dynamic as the Vulcan, it was more technologically advanced and faster and could carry a heavier payload.

The V-bomber force was now complete. By the early 1960s, it had a complement of some 140 aircraft armed with nuclear weapons that had a combined power equal to the payloads of millions of World War II bombers.

The chilling reality of an all-out nuclear strike is that very little will remain that will resemble anything like normal life. The V-bomber crews were trained to deliver their weapons with little hope of returning home – indeed with little hope of having any homes to return to.

Higher stresses

By the 1960s, advances in Soviet missile technology threatened to make the V-bomber force obsolete almost overnight. After all, a Soviet warhead could reach the UK in just four minutes. So to guarantee mutually assured destruction, the V-bombers had to be able to arm and take off in under four minutes, known as the quick reaction alert (QRA).

Advances in ground-to-air missiles also meant that the high-flying bombers could be shot down en route to target. A new tactic of low-level flying was introduced. However, the higher stresses of this type of aviation took their toll on the Valiant, which was eventually grounded in 1964.

Mothballed

By 1970, the V-bomber force had effectively been overtaken by missile technology. Apart from a highlight during the 1982 Falklands War when Vulcans and Victors staged the furthest-ever bombing raids – each covered some 8,000 miles, lasted about 16 hours and necessitated numerous air-to-air refuellings – they were relegated to the lesser role of in-flight refuelling aircraft or became mothballed stand-bys. The Vulcan retired from service in 1984, while the Victor remained as a tanker until after the Gulf War of 1990-1.

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