Vulcan 607

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Just over 20 years later, its last three squadrons were about to be disbanded, the aircraft sent to flight museums and scrapyards. But the Vulcan was to find one last role, one as unexpected as its appearance over the Big Apple more than two decades earlier. In 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands and the United Kingdom found itself fighting a war on the other side of the world.

Badsey, Stephen (March 2013). "An Overview of the Falklands War: Politics, Strategy and Operations". NIDS Military History Studies Annual (16): 139–166. ISSN 1345-5117. Burden, Rodney A.; Draper, Michael I.; Rough, Douglas A.; Smith, Colin R.; Wilton, David L. (1986). Falklands: The Air War. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-842-7. OCLC 159813718. There is an excellent video in Youtube titled" XM 607 Falklands Most Daring Raid" featuring this aircraft.

Conflicto de Malvinas" (in Spanish). Fuerza Aérea Argentina. Archived from the original on 1 June 2008. Esta misión se concretó a las 05:33 hs, sobre la BAM Malvinas, sobrevolándola con rumbo N-NE y lanzando diecisiete bombas con retardo de hasta dos horas, que impactaron a 45º de la cabecera 08, pero sin afectar la pista, aunque hiriendo levemente a dos soldados del Ejército Argentino This mission was completed at 05:33 am, over the Malvinas BAM, flying over it heading N-NE and dropping seventeen bombs with a delay of up to two hours, which hit 45º from the 08 header, but without affecting the runway, although wounding slightly to two soldiers of the Argentine Army Argentine codes had been broken, and in March 1982 intelligence warnings about possible Argentine activity in the South Atlantic accumulated. [5] [6] The RAF began examining whether it was possible to carry out long-range operations with Avro Vulcan bombers using aerial refuelling. [1] [4] In 1961, a Vulcan had flown non-stop from the UK to RAAF Base Richmond near Sydney in Australia, a much greater distance, [7] but that was with pre-positioned aerial tankers along the route, which would not be possible flying from Ascension. All consideration at this point was about how it could be done; no targets were identified in the Falklands or Argentina. [8] After over 20 minutes of intensive flying through the storm, the jets had burned more fuel than planned. Martin and his Vulcan crew flew in formation with the tankers during the storm, but as air-to-air refuelling was carried out in radio silence they were unaware of the full detail of the Victors’ problems. When they received a little over half the fuel they expected and the Victor signalled they had given all they could spare, the Vulcan crew were surprised. They had much lower levels than needed to complete the mission and return to Ascension. In reality XL189 had given morethan they could spare. The tanker crews were well-trained for their wartime role, as their peacetime role involved refuelling fighters scrambled in response to incursions into British airspace, usually by bombers from the Soviet Union at a rate of five per week. [10] However, long-range flights over the unfamiliar South Atlantic Ocean necessitated upgrades to the Victors' navigational equipment, notably the installation of the Delco Carousel inertial navigation system and the Omega navigation system. [12] The tankers were themselves capable of being refuelled in flight, which meant that it was possible to set up relays of aircraft. [13] Brookes, Andrew (2009). Vulcan Units of the Cold War. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-818-1. OCLC 154800055.

It was to be one of the most ambitious operations since 617 Squadron bounced their revolutionary bombs into the dams of the Ruhr Valley in 1943 . . . Haulman, Daniel L. (21 November 2016). "44 Hours". Air & Spaces Forces Magazine. Vol.99, no.12 . Retrieved 1 May 2023. I hear that it went a bit quiet on his aircraft for a while, but being the professionals they were Martin just said ‘it looks like we’ve got a job of work to do’ and they proceeded southwards to complete their mission.” A simply beautiful, yet awesome, sinister looking plane. Those who have not done so must read Rowland White's "Vulcan 607", the amazing story behind the raid on the Stanley airfield at the beginning of the Falklands War. I have read it twice - and I am a former Royal Marine! Lebow, Richard Ned (August 2007). "Revisiting the Falklands Intelligence Failures". RUSI Journal. 152 (4): 68–73. doi: 10.1080/03071840701574755. ISSN 0307-1847. S2CID 219629077.Freedman, Lawrence (2005). The Official History of the Falklands Campaign: Volume II - War and Diplomacy. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5207-5. OCLC 249889816. Miller, Greg (11 February 2020). "How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades". Washington Post . Retrieved 26 March 2020. The first five Victors deployed to Ascension on 18 April. They were followed by four more the following day. Another six more deployed by the end of the month, bringing the Victor tanker force to fourteen, since one had returned to Marham on 26 April. Each was refuelled by another Victor before leaving UK airspace. While the Victors deployed to Ascension, their normal refuelling mission in the air was undertaken by United States Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers. The station commander at Marham, Group Captain J. S. B. Price, became the senior RAF officer at Ascension. Wing Commander D. W. Maurice-Jones assumed command of the Victor detachment at Ascension until 22 April, when he was relieved by Wing Commander A. W. Bowman, the commander of No. 57 Squadron. [14]