Fly Past

100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

BOMBERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 91

HAWKER SIDDELEY BUCCANEER

Type: Two-seat low-level strike

First fl ight: April 30, 1958, entered service October 1969

Powerplant: Two 11,200lb st (45.81kN) Rolls-Royce Spey 101 turbofans

Dimensions: Span 44ft 0in (13.41m), Length 63ft 5in (19.32m)

Weights: Empty 29,980lb (13,598kg), All-up 62,000lb (28,123kg)

Max speed: 645mph (1,037km/h) at sea level

Range: 700 miles (1,126km)

Armament: Up to 16,000lb (7,256kg) of bombs and missiles, in rotary bomb bay

and on under-wing pylons

Replaced: Avro Vulcan from 1969, English Electric Canberra B(I).8 from 1972

Taken on charge: 49 newly built, 62 transferred from the Fleet Air Arm

Replaced by: Panavia Tornado from 1982

HAWKER SIDDELEY BUCCANEER S.2B

Buccaneer. Few realised at the time,
but it turned out to be the last all-
British bomber to serve the RAF.
Surplus Royal Navy stocks were
joined by 49 examples ordered from
new. Production was completed
in October 1977 when XZ432
was delivered to 15 Squadron at
Lossiemouth. The first Buccaneer
S.2Bs were issued to 12 Squadron at
Honington in October 1969.
Initially, Buccaneers were used
in West Germany for low-level
nuclear strike and in Britain for
maritime strike. With the advent of
the Tornado, Buccaneer units were
concentrated at Lossiemouth in anti-
shipping and precision strike roles.

BRIDGE BUSTERS
Skills acquired with laser
designation pods and laser-guided
bombs (LGBs), plus the Buccaneer’s
prowess at low-level meant that a
detachment was sent to Muharraq,
Bahrain, in readiness for the

liberation of Kuwait fro m the Iraqi

armed forces. The first aircraft

arrived on January 26, 1991.

Initially the Buccaneers were used

to designate targets for the Tornado

force, but soon were dropping

1,000-pounder LGBs of their

own. Buccaneers made possible

the destruction of the bridge at As

Samawah across the Euphrates,

north west of Basra, on February

2, 1991. This success led to two

dozen more bridges being downed

before the Buccaneers specialised in

blowing holes in hardened aircraft

shelters at airfields.

Buccaneers completed 216 ‘ops’

during the First Gulf War. After

return to Lossiemouth, the wind

down was swift, 12 Squadron

retiring the type in October 1993

and 208 Squadron said farewell in

April 1994.

Despite its almost reluctant

acceptance by the RAF, the

Buccaneer earned the admiration of

aircrew and high command alike.

As the Gulf War demonstrated, it

was a very capable machine and the

king of low-level flying. An aircrew

member paid tribute by saying

that riding down on the deck in a

Buccaneer was “like a ball bearing

on glass.”

Above left

Lossiemouth

Buccaneer S.2Bs

in their element,

low-level and

over water, in the

mid-1980s. In the

foreground is XN981

of 12 Squadron which

served with the Fleet

Air Arm from 1965,

transferring to the

RAF initially in 1970,

and permanently

from 1978. It

carries a Martel

anti-ship missile

and an electronic

countermeasures pod

under its port wing.

In the background

is XZ432, the last

Buccaneer built,

delivered to the RAF

on October 6, 1977.

BRITISH AEROSPACE

Above

A Buccaneer

outside a hardened

aircraft shelter at

Lossiemouth, showing

off armament

options.

Above left

The RAF Museum’s

Buccaneer S.2B

XW547 was acquired

in January 1993

and is displayed at

Hendon. It wears the

colours and nose-art

worn during the

First Gulf War, during

which it successfully

completed 11 sorties.

RAF MUSEUM

http://www.rafmuseum.org