BAE Systems

The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017 15

lives by another 400 hours. In 1987 the
Lightning Training Flight and No 5
Squadron were disbanded leaving just No
11 Squadron active at RAF Binbrook until
30 April 1988 when the unit was
re-equipped with the Tornado F3, (built at
the same Samlesbury and Warton
factories as the Lightnings).

■ Strikemaster
The Jet Provost was a jet-powered basic
trainer providing side-by-side seating for
the instructor and student pilot. The early
marks of the aircraft were development
machines and the RAF received 386 Jet
Provost T3s and T4s between June 1959
and 1965. Following Luton’s closure,
development passed to Warton where
the pressurised T5s were built.
Recognising the potential of the T5,
BAC offered an inexpensive weapons
trainer or counter-insurgency version: the
Strikemaster. It had four pylons for bombs
or rocket launchers, giving a total weapon
load of 3,000lb including two guns. The
aircraft was cleared to 6g at an all-up

weight of 11,500Ib and was capable of

taking the student pilot right through to

combat. The largest customer was the

RSAF which received forty-seven Mk 80s.

The delivery of the 146th Strikemaster

Legacy aircraft programmes

†

Lightning F6 XP693 and Tornado F3 ZE785. XP693 first flew in June 1962 was retained by BAC/BAe for development work at Warton until 1992. Its final task was as a
chase aircraft on the Tornado programme. The Tornados replaced the Lightnings in RAF service. (BAE SYSTEMS via Warton Heritage)

took place at Warton in 1978 with a

delivery to the Royal Saudi Air Force. BAe

built ten Strikemasters for stock of which

three were sold to Sudan, one to Oman,

and six to Ecuador, with the final delivery

in October 1988. In the meantime the

Kuwait Air Force traded back its nine

remaining Strikemasters to British

Aerospace and these were refurbished

and sold to the Botswana Defence Force

in 1987 which maintained them in service

until 1997.

■ Vulcan

The mighty Vulcan was the last of the

RAF’s three ‘V’ bombers to maintain its

bombing role but as it was about to be

withdrawn from service was called into

action in the Falklands War.

The Vulcan had made its first flight on

30 August 1952 and deliveries of the

Vulcan B1s to the RAF began in 1955, but

plans were afoot to further develop it and

improve all areas of its operating

envelope so by 1967 all the Vulcan units

had the superior performing B2s. As there

Royal Saudi Air Force Strikemaster 1120. (BAE SYSTEMS via Warton Heritage)

‡ Vulcan K2 XM

following its

conversion by BAe

Woodford from a B

to a K2 tanker.

(Avro Heritage)