April 2015 African Pilot 61The fatigue life of all V-force aircraft would be reduced by low
level operations, but the chance of radar detection was reduced
and with the application of camouflage the chances of visual
acquisition from above were also minimised.
The nuclear capability of the B.2 was also improved compared with the
B.1. Two nuclear weapons -Yellow Sun and Red Beard could be carried.
However, even with the B.2’s improvements the delivery of free-fall
nuclear weapons into the increasingly deadly defences of the Soviet
Union was becoming far too dangerous a proposition. Intermediate
range Thor missiles became a signifi cant part of the UK’s nuclear
deterrent, but the fl exibility of a manned bomber force was still important.
The obvious way to improve the survivability of the V-force was to use
stand-off missiles and accordingly Blue Steel was developed. This could
be fi red up to 100 miles away from the target. As on the Victor, Blue
Steels were carried in a partially-recessed manner.
The bomb bay area was modified accordingly and the lower tailfin
of the missile would be folded over on the ground to give enough
ground clearance. On launching the fin would fold down, the
missile’s rocket engines would fire, boosting it to high altitude and
the Vulcan crew would turn for home, leaving Blue Steel to fly on
towards the target independently. An improvement over the Blue
Steel would have been the American’s Skybolt missile, which was
intended for use by B-52s and Vulcans. Vulcans would have been
able to carry two, one under each wing and many B.2s were built
with suitable attachment points under their wings. However, the
programme was a troubled one and despite it looking like becoming
a success towards the end, the Americans cancelled it late on in
development at the end of 1962.
In common with most British aircraft, a number of unusual proposals
were made during the Vulcan’s life, none of which came to anything.
These included an airliner version -the Avro Atlantic - a fi ghter-support
Vulcan which would have carried three Gnats semi-recessed in the
fuselage and wings and even a vertical take-off Vulcan (complete with
no less than ten lift engines in the bomb bay). Even the least ambitious
proposal, the ‘Phase 6’ Vulcan, which would have had larger wings
and tail and an extended fuselage housing a second crew (for very
long missions) along with provision for extra bombs in pods on the
wings, came to naught, not least because the Americans cancelled the
troubled Skybolt nuclear missile that was to have been carried by the
Phase 6 Vulcan (and indeed many B.2s).
VULCAN B.2The loss of Skybolt and the retirement of the obsolete Thor missile
meant that the RAF was fi elding a nuclear deterrent bomber force that
was increasingly outmoded. With the arrival of Polaris Inter Continental
Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and associated submarines, the Royal Navy
took over the RAF’s nuclear deterrent role. Thus, the Vulcan would have
fl own for its entire service life without ever dropping a bomb in anger;
had it not been for the Falklands War in 1982. Whilst of limited tactical
use, a succession of Vulcan bombing missions against the Argentine
occupiers on the Falklands Islands in 1982 proved that the UK still had a
strategic bomber force with which to be to be reckoned. Whilst damage
to Argentine ground forces was limited, the psychological effect was
signifi cant and Argentina kept back a large portion of its air defence
fi ghters to defend against attacks on the mainland.