Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Long-range strategic bomber

Power Plant:

Four 10,000 lbst Bristol Olympus 301 Turbojets

Specifications:

Armament:

Up to 21,454 kg (47,298 lb) bombs; tactical and nuclear weapons

History:

The prototype of the Avro Type 698, or Vulcan, was ordered in January 1948, the first aircraft (VX770) flying with four 6,500 lbst Rolls Royce Avon R.A.3 turbojets in 1952. This aircraft throughout its life had a number of engines fitted, including the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire, Bristol Olympus and Rolls Royce Conway. The second prototype (VX777) was first flown with 9,500 lbst Bristol Olympus B.O1.1/2c engines, joining the test program on 3 September 1953.

The first production B.1 (XA889) was flown in February 1955 but, after testing, it was revealed some wing re-design was required. Production B.1s had Bristol Olympus 101 engines but as production proceeded more powerful Olympus engines were installed, these being the Olympus 102, 104 and 200 series.

The first production B.2 (XH533) was first flown in August 1958, having the 17,000 lbst Bristol Olympus 201 two-spool turbojet. Standard weaponry for the B.2 was the ‘Blue Steel’ supersonic cruise air-to-surface missile directed by inertial navigation and fitted with a thermo nuclear warhead.

In 1958 a Vulcan B.1 (XH539) was used for dropping and firing trials of the ‘Blue Steel’ over the Woomera Weapons Range in South Australia, the seventh B Mk 2 also being used in trials of the Blue Steel. No 617 Squadron RAF was the first unit to become fully operational with Blue Steel, followed by Nos 27 and 83 in 1963, and Nos 9, 12 and 35 at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

Whilst the ‘Blue Steel’ was under development the British Government decided to obtain the Mach 3 Douglas GAM-87A Skybolt missile with a range of 1,609 km (1,000 miles) for the Royal Air Force’s V-bomber force. Two B Mk 2s were assigned for trials, the aircraft to carry two Skybolts under each wing, one aircraft (XH537) flying in 1961 with dummy missiles, and a second (XH538) going to the United States for dropping trials. Plans were for the 61st B Mk 2, then on the production line, to be appropriately fitted out, but, in the meantime, the US Government cancelled development of the Skybolt weapons system. Subsequently in December 1962 the British Government decided to rely on Polaris missile armed submarines.

The Vulcan B.1 and B.1A only had a short service career, most being scrapped during 1968, the three units operating these models changing to the B.2. In December 1960 No 230 OCU at Waddington in Lincolnshire commenced operations with the B.2.

A number of Vulcans are known to have visited this region. First seen was a B.1 (XA897), which made a tour of Australia in 1956. It came to Australia for Air Force Week, leaving Boscombe Down in Wiltshire on 9 September 1956, staging via Aden and Singapore, arriving at Avalon, VIC on 11 September, having logged 22 hrs 30 mins. On board were Air Marshall Sir Harry Broadhurst, Commander in Chief of RAF Bomber Command, the aircraft being under the command of Sqdn Ldr D Howard. It visited a number of RAAF bases before returning to the United Kingdom. However, on landing at London’s Heathrow airport on 1 October 1956 in poor weather under Ground Controlled Approach it landed short and was destroyed.

On 20 June 1961 a B.1A Vulcan of 101 Squadron (XH481) flown by Sqdn Ldr Michael Beavis and crew flew non-stop from RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire to RAAF Richmond, NSW covering the 18,507 km (11,500 miles) in 20 hrs 3 mins 17 secs at an average speed of 922 km/h (573 mph). It was refuelled in flight from RAF Valiant Bk Mk 1 tankers fitted with Flight Refuelling Mk 16 hose drum units which were stationed along the route. It gave a flying display over Sydney Harbour on 22 June, and flew to RAAF Edinburgh, SA. It remained at Edinburgh until 27 June when it flew with a Handley Page Victor over Hobart and Launceston in Tasmania before returning to the United Kingdom, arriving at RAF Scampton on 7 July, stopping at Butterworth, Gan, Nairobi and Luqa on the way.

In 1953 Britain was developing nuclear weapons, some of the testing of which would occur in Australia. In the mid-1950s the Australian Government was looking at obtaining the Vulcan for the RAAF. In 1954 an Australian Air Mission visited the United Kingdom and the United States with a view to obtaining an aircraft to replace the Australian-built variants of the English Electric Canberra in the 1970s. To meet this requirement the Mission looked at the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, an example of which (serial 31822) visited Australia in November 1963. The Mission recommended “the purchase of the Avro Vulcan or Handley Page Victor” with nuclear capability, the former being the first option. However, there was some doubt as to the ability of the RAAF to operate such an aircraft within the limits of the national economy, and in the event no order was placed.

Late in 1961 a proposal was put to the Australian Government that Vickers Vulcans be made available to the RAAF pending the delivery of the BAC TSR-2 tactical bomber should Australia purchase this aircraft as an English Electric  Canberra replacement. The British Government offered Australia 25 TSR-2s plus two squadrons (8 aircraft each) of Vulcans as an interim measure pending the construction and delivery of the TSR-2s. It was said the Vulcans could operate out of existing Australian airfields, but, as the Vulcan operated at a normal weight of 92,534 kg (204,000 lb) it would have been too heavy for all RAAF airfields except Darwin, NT. In the event, the British V-bombers were considered to be too expensive to purchase and operate and, after the British Government cancelled the TSR-2 project, the whole question became irrelevant. In the event the Australian Government chose the General Dynamics F-111C and obtained two squadrons of McDonnell F-4E Phantoms as an interim measure until the F-111s were ready and operational.

Four Vulcan B.1s of 617 Squadron RAF based at Scampton left the United Kingdom to visit New Zealand for the opening of the Wellington Airport in October 1959, flying direct from the United Kingdom. The aircraft over-nighted at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus but one did not use its braking parachute, had brake problems, and remained there for an extended visit whilst repairs were carried out. The other three flew on to RAAF Darwin, NT. From there they flew on to New Zealand, XH498 flying over the southern alps and over Aoraki, Mt Cook (3,724 m – 12,218 ft) before performing a display over Invercargill whilst the other two flew over the west coast of the south island and some of the north island.

The aircraft were to fly in formation over Wellington but due to weather only XH498 left Ohakea. It made two touch-and-goes at Wellington but on its final landing run suffered major problems when the undercarriage was severely damaged, hitting the sea wall at the runway threshold. The aircraft climbed out and flew on to RNZAF Ohakea where it made a safe crash-landing. It remained there for eight months whilst repairs were effected.

The aircraft was test flown and left on 4 January 1960, returning to the United Kingdom. It was later converted to B.2 configuration and became an Instructional Airframe (7993M) at RAF Finningley in South Yorkshire before being scrapped. The other two aircraft left New Zealand on 29 October and flew to the United Kingdom via Fiji, Christmas Island, Honolulu, Travis Air Force Base near San Francisco and Goose Bay.

At other times the Vulcan was a regular visitor to this region. In 1962 a formation of three Vulcan B.2s (XH556, XL319 and XL392) and nine Australian Sabres flew over the opening ceremony of the British Empire & Commonwealth Games in Perth, WA. In July 1963 three Vulcans (XH481, XH482 and XH503) arrived in Perth, WA, having flown non-stop from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, flying the 15,930 km (9,899 miles) in 18 hrs 10 mins.

During the confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia in the early 1960s Great Britain had an obligation to maintain a force of V-bombers at Tengah in Singapore, and Butterworth in Malaysia. Eight Vulcans were based in the area, flying exercises in and around Malaysia and regularly visiting Australia. These aircraft made night sorties over northern Australia to test Australian defences, the exercises being known as ‘Sunflower’.

In December 1965 Vulcans were based for short periods at Alice Springs, NT and Townsville and Amberley in Queensland, from where they made raids on Darwin during exercise ‘High Rigel’, being opposed by CAC Sabres and GAMD Dassault Mirages of the RAAF. Further exercises took place during exercise ‘Short Spica’ in March 1966, Vulcans being deployed to Amberley and Townsville. Other exercises were carried out in November 1967, the latter known as ‘High Mars’ and also involved RNZAF English Electric Canberras from No 14 Squadron. In 1968 exercise ‘High Jupiter’ involved Vulcans and two RAF Canberras from Singapore. Vulcans seen in this area during this period included XL427, XH556, and XM652.

In 1958 XA908 of No 83 Squadron RAF toured Central Africa, later in the year travelling to the United States, but was destroyed in a crash at Chicago in Illinois on 24 October. Another (the first prototype VX770) carried out tropical trials in Malta, but on 20 September 1958 it broke up during a Battle of Britain display at RAF Syerston near Newark in Nottinghamshire. A number were used as engine test beds, XR894 for the Bristol Olympus 22R and Rolls Royce Conway R.Co5. A total of 89 B Mk 2s was built, of which 12 were lost in accidents. Eventually all surviving Vulcans were re-designated SR.2 and were used in the strategic reconnaissance role.

At one stage Vulcan B.2 (XH562) from NEAF Bomber (Akrotiri) Wing visited RNZAF Ohakea in March 1972, the aircraft being ‘zapped’ by personnel of No 75 Squadron RNZAF with the squadron badge on the nosewheel door and RNZAF Kiwi roundel on the fuselage below the cockpit.

During the Falklands crisis in 1982 Vulcans of the RAF were used in bombing missions with conventional bombs on Argentinian targets in the Falklands Islands. Operational missions were of up to 12,874 km (8,000 miles) out and back operating from the Wideawake airfield on the Ascension Islands. On these missions it was necessary to have ten Handley Page Victor tankers in the air to ensure the success of one Vulcan, with up to five refuelling operations necessary, and some Victor tankers re-fuelled from other Victors. All Vulcan attacks were single aircraft strikes during the hours of darkness. By May 1982 AGM Shrike anti-radiation missiles formed the aircraft’s armament.

Following retirement some 19 examples survive, having been preserved in museums, including XM605 in California and XM606 in Louisiana, USA; XL361 at Goose Bay in Canada; XJ824 at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford; and XM569 which was on display at the Wales Air Museum in Cardiff but following the demise of that museum was broken up, its forward fuselage being obtained by the Jet Age Museum at Staverton in Devon.  A total of 136 examples of th Vulcan was completed.

In 2005 work commenced in the United Kingdom on the return of one example to airworthiness for appearances at aviation events, making its first post-restoration flight in early 2008. This aircraft G-VLCN (XH588) made a number of demonstrations at UK aviation events but, due to its cost of operation, was expected to be grounded at the end of 2013. Public donations then allowed the aircraft to continue flying at air events in the United Kingdom until at least 2016. However the aircraft, which was built in 1960 as part of Britain’s nuclear deterrent carrying the ‘Blue Steel’ stand-off missile, ran out of component time and made its last flight in October 2015.