V bomber

When it became clear that the Soviet Union's surface-to-air missiles like the S-75 Dvina could bring down high-flying aircraft, the V bomber force changed to low-level attack methods.

[1] Elements within the RAF and the government sought to adopt the new nuclear weaponry and advances in aviation technology to introduce more potent and effective means of conducting warfare.

[5] The British government saw this as a resurgence of United States isolationism, as had occurred after the First World War, and dreaded the possibility that Britain might have to fight an aggressor alone.

[9] In November 1946, the Air Ministry issued an operational requirement (OR230) for an advanced jet bomber capable of carrying a 10,000-pound (4,500 kg) bomb to a target 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 kilometres) from a base anywhere in the world with a cruising speed of 500 knots (930 km/h) and at an altitude of between 35,000 and 50,000 feet (11,000 and 15,000 m).

Bomber Command's runways were built to handle the Lancaster, and extending them would be an expensive undertaking, involving not only additional construction, but land acquisition and demolition works.

A request for designs went to most of the United Kingdom's major aircraft manufacturers: Handley Page, Armstrong Whitworth, Avro, Bristol, Short Brothers and English Electric.

[18] As a stop gap, the British announced on 27 January 1950 that it had agreed to acquire Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers from the United States free under the recently passed American Mutual Defense Assistance Act.

[25][26] Sir William Penney noted that "the RAF has handled aircraft for a long time and can fly Valiants as soon as they come off the production line.

[39][40] V force assets at the end of 1958 were:[41] The development of effective jet fighters and anti-aircraft missile defences promised to make the nuclear deterrent delivered from bombers flying at high altitudes increasingly ineffective.

Two dozen of a new model of the Vulcan, the B.2, with 17,000 lbf (76 kN) Bristol Olympus 201 engines, a slightly larger wingspan and new electrical and electronic systems were ordered on 25 February 1956.

These included the addition of an in-flight refuelling probe, new electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment, tail-warning radar, drooped leading edges and a strengthened pressure cabin.

A follow-on study, which considered the possible effect of hydrogen bombs, estimated that as few as ten could reduce the entire UK to a radioactive ruin.

But the United States strategy was that attacks on population centres would have little value once a war had actually begun, and prioritised military targets, particularly those from which nuclear weapons could be launched or deployed.

The pilot was Squadron Leader Edwin Flavell, and the bomb aimer was Flight Lieutenant Eric Stacey, and both were awarded the Air Force Cross[60][61][62] in the 1957 New Year Honours.

On 15 May 1957, Valiant B.1 XD818 flown by Wing Commander Kenneth Hubbard dropped the first British hydrogen bomb over the Pacific, the "Short Granite", as part of Operation Grapple.

49 Squadron was selected to perform the live weapon drop and was equipped with specially modified Valiants to conform with the scientific requirements of the tests and other precautionary measures to protect against heat and radiation.

A British warhead was designed to fit in Skybolt's nose cone, and dummy test firings were carried out at RAF West Freugh commencing on 9 December 1961.

[97][99] The project came to an abrupt halt when the US government cancelled Skybolt on 31 December 1962,[100] but the vestigial attachment points were used for AN/ALQ-101 electronic countermeasure pods during the Falklands War.

[101] To replace Skybolt, the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, negotiated the Nassau Agreement with the President of the United States John F. Kennedy on 3 January 1963, under which the US agreed to supply the UK with Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missiles instead.

[107][108] Through Project E and the introduction of the smaller, lighter Red Beard bomb, which entered service in 1960, by the mid-1960s Canberras and the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm were able to deliver nuclear weapons,[109] but their power was insignificant compared with that of the 109 Victor and Vulcan bombers.

[110] The V bombers were formally relieved of their role as the deliverer of the UK strategic nuclear deterrent, which officially passed to the Polaris ballistic missile submarines of the Royal Navy on 1 July 1969.

Nos 9 and 35 Squadrons moved to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, where they replaced Canberra bombers in support of CENTO and operations on NATO's southern flank.

The Egyptian early-warning radar system was known to be non-operational due to lack of maintenance and spare parts, so the bombers were ordered to operate at night when the visually-controlled defences would be least effective.

A search of the supply dumps at Waddington and RAF Scampton located the 90-way panels, which were fitted and tested, but finding enough septuple bomb carriers proved harder, and at least nine were required.

At first it was thought that the switch to low-level flying was the cause, but cracks were also found in Valiants that were in service as tanker and strategic reconnaissance aircraft, and had not been flown at low level.

[126] The probe and drogue system for aerial refuelling was developed by Sir Alan Cobham,[131] but the Air Ministry doubted its value so long as Britain maintained bases around the world.

The final production model of the Valiant was the BK.1 version, which had a 4,500 pounds (2,000 kg) fuel tank in the front of the bomb bay and an HDU in the rear.

The price tag soon increased to £8 million for 24 aircraft, and the Treasury was reluctant to spend that much money pending a review of Britain's overseas defence commitments, which would establish whether a third squadron was required.

This left only Nos 44, 50 and 101 Squadrons at RAF Waddington, which were all scheduled to disband by 1 July 1982, with their tactical nuclear mission passing to the Panavia Tornado.

The museum's director general, Dr Michael A. Fopp, stated the goal was "people will leave feeling better informed about what happened in the second half of the 20th Century.