100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
BOMBERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 87AVRO VULCAN
Left
Vulcan B.2 XM599
dropping the
type’s maximum
conventional bomb
load of twenty-one
1,000-pounders. This
aircraft joined 35
Squadron in October
1963 and retired in- KEC
Below
No.44 Squadron
Vulcan B.2 XM597
as deployed
during Operational
‘Corporate’ in May- The Shrike anti-
radiation missiles
were installed on
pylons fi tted to the
hardpoints intended
for the cancelled
Douglas Skybolt
standoff missile.
PETE WEST
at work on the much more powerful
B.2 which, with a bigger wing, was to
carry the Blue Steel nuclear standoff
missile.
The prototype B.2 first flew on
August 31, 1957, and again it was
83 Squadron that brought the new
version into service. The Blue Steel
was declared operation with 617
Squadron, at Scampton, in February
1963 but it had only a short
service life.
The following year the fleet took on
camouflage and in 1966 adopted a
low-level penetration profile, aided by
General Dynamics terrain-followingradar. On April 30, 1968 Bomber
Command became part of the new
Strike Command in readiness for the
Royal Navy taking over the national
nuclear deterrent role in June 1969 as
Polaris-armed submarines came
on line.
In anticipation of being equipped
with the later cancelled Douglas
Skybolt nuclear missile, some Vulcan
B.2s had been ‘plumbed in’ with
hardpoints under each wing, which
were used on a small number of
B.2MRR (occasionally called SR.2)
versions for maritime reconnaissance
and air sampling by 27 Squadron
from November 1973 to March 1982.
The hardpoints came into their own
during the Falklands conflict to carry
Shrike missiles, as shown above,
the war providing a stunning finale for
the Vulcan in the bomber role before
44 Squadron disbanded in December
1982.
The aftermath found the RAF in
need of in-flight refuelling assets,
and the stopgap Vulcan K.2 tanker
version served with 50 Squadron from
Waddington until March 1984. With
that, the type’s operational career came
to a close.Type: Five-crew heavy bomber
First fl ight: August 30,1952; B.1 entered service July 1957
Powerplant: Four 20,000lb st (89.6kN) Bristol Siddeley Olympus 301 turbojets
Dimensions: Span 111ft 0in (33.83m), Length 99ft 11in (30.45m)
Weights: All-up about 250,000lb (113,400kg)
Max speed: 645mph (1,037km/h) at 36,000ft (10,972m)
Range: 4,600 miles (7,403km)
Armament: Up to 21,000lb (9,525kg) of bombs; or Blue Steel nuclear standoff
weaponReplaced: English Electric Canberra from 195 7
Taken on charge: 134
Replaced by: Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer from 1969; Panavia Tornado from 1983
AVRO VULCAN B.2