AVRO VULCAN: Britain’s Cold War Warrior

A stunning pictorial tribute to an iconic British aircraft, with images from throughout its service career, celebrating the awesome Vulcan’s return to flight and the 25th anniversary of its historic Falklands missions.

The origins of the Avro Vulcan, which entered squadron service in 1956, went back to an Air Ministry requirement, issued in 1947, for a jet bomber capable of a top speed of nearly 500 knots, able to fly at a height in excess of 50,000 feet, with a range of over 3,000 miles and capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.

The Vulcan was the most famous of the three types known, along with the Victor and the Valiant as the V-bombers, which maintained Britain's strategic nuclear deterrent during the early years of the Cold War. Initially finished in an all-over white colour scheme to protect the aircraft and their crews from the heat and flash of a nuclear explosion, the V-Force's aircraft could be scrambled in minutes in response to any Soviet attack. V-Bombers and their crews stood on constant alert until 1969 when the V-Force handed over its nuclear deterrent role to the Royal Navy's Polaris submarines.

In all, 136 Vulcans were built by Avro near Manchester, the last being completed in January 1965. After it lost its nuclear deterrent function, the Vulcan found other roles as a conventional bomber, a maritime reconnaissance aircraft and as a tanker. Its only combat sorties were the famous Operation Black Buck raids during the Falklands Conflict flown from Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic. At the time, these were the longest bombing missions in the history of warfare, the Vulcans covering some 8,000 miles in around 16 hours. The aircraft was finally withdrawn from squadron service in 1984. A Vulcan will once again take to the skies in 2007. Years of work on the part of the Vulcan to the Skies Trust will allow their preserved Vulcan XH558, to lead the 25th anniversary commemorative flypast for the Falklands Conflict in June.