Roe and company designed the vulcan in response to specification b 35 46 of the three v bombers produced the vulcan was considered the most technically advanced and. The avro vulcan later hawker siddeley vulcan from july 1963 is a jet powered tailless delta wing high altitude strategic bomber which was operated by the royal air force raf from 1956 until 1984. The handley page victor is a british jet powered strategic bomber developed and produced by handley page which served during the cold war it was the third and final v bomber to be operated by the royal air force raf the other two being the avro vulcan and the vickers valiant the victor had been developed as part of the united kingdom s airborne nuclear deterrent.
This is the moment a russian blackjack bomber capable of carrying 16 nuclear missiles was intercepted by raf typhoons as it headed for uk airspace the russian jets were in the uk s area of. During the cuban missile crisis the raf s bombers and thor missiles targeted 16 cities 44 airfields 10 air defence control centres and 20 irbm sites. Project e nuclear warheads were also used on the sixty thor intermediate range ballistic missiles irbms that were operated by the raf from 1959 to 1963 under project emily.
The scrambling of typhoons from raf coningsby in lincolnshire to intercept two nuclear capable russian blackjack bombers is just the latest in a long line of incidents of russian planes nearing. Unlike tactical bombers penetrators fighter bombers and attack aircraft which are used in air interdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment. A strategic bomber is a medium to long range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air to ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy s capacity to wage war.
The valiant entered service in january 1955 with 138 squadron at raf gaydon in warwickshire shortly before the formation there of 232 ocu. The aircraft the vickers valiant avro vulcan and handley page victor were more commonly known as the v force. The successful designs formed the raf s iconic nuclear capable medium bomber force.
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. The cold war era victor jet currently stands guard at the entrance to raf marham in. The raf is giving away an iconic jet bomber that was once part of the uk s strategic nuclear strike force.
The avro vulcan which first. 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.
