Editing V bomber (section)

==Conventional mission==
===Suez crisis===
The first V bomber to see combat use with conventional bombs was the Valiant in [[Operation Musketeer (1956)|Operation Musketeer]], the Anglo-French military response in the [[Suez Crisis]] in 1956. It was the first and only time the Valiants dropped bombs in combat operations.{{sfn|Wynn|1997|pp=129–130}} RAF units began deploying to Malta in September 1956, and when Israel attacked Egypt on 29 October 1956, four Valiant squadrons—Nos 138, 148, 207 and 214 Squadrons—were based at [[RAF Luqa]].{{sfn|Brookes|1982|pp=72–73}} No. 138 Squadron was the only one with a full complement of eight Valiants; Nos 148 and 207 each had six, and No. 214 had only four.{{sfn|Wynn|1997|pp=129–130}} The initial objective was to neutralise the [[Egyptian Air Force]], which was believed to have about 100 [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15]] jet fighters and 30 [[Ilyushin Il-28]] twin-engine jet bombers. 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.{{sfn|Brookes|1982|pp=72–73}} This meant a reversion to the tactics used by Bomber Command in the Second World War. The Valiants were neither trained nor equipped for such a mission. Not all of the Valiants were equipped with the [[Navigation and Bombing System]] (NBS) and it was not serviceable in all of those that were. This forced a reversion to the older, visual bomb sight. The Valiants and Canberras were equipped with the [[Gee-H (navigation)|Gee-H]] [[radio navigation]] system, but it could not be used as there were no beacons in the Middle East. However, the Valiants were also equipped with [[Green Satin radar]], which could still be used.{{sfn|Wynn|1997|pp=131–132}}

The first mission was flown on 31 October, in co-operation with Canberra bombers from Malta and Cyprus. The target was five Egyptian airbases in the [[Cairo]] area, including [[Cairo West Air Base]]. At the last minute, it was discovered that fifteen US transport aircraft were at Cairo West evacuating civilians, and the target had to be altered while the bombers were already in the air. The Valiants dropped target markers, and then Canberras dropped flares to illuminate the target area. This allowed other Canberras to drop bombs on the runways. This pattern was repeated in attacks on four airfields in the [[Nile Delta]] and eight in the [[Suez Canal]] area over the next two nights. The Valiant's final mission was flown on 3 November against El Agami Island, which was believed to be a submarine repair depot. By the time operations ended, {{convert|450|LT}} of bombs had been dropped,{{sfn|Brookes|1982|pp=72–73}} half of which had fallen within {{convert|650|yd}} of their targets.{{sfn|Wynn|1997|p=133}} The results were unimpressive. Three of the seven main Egyptian airbases remained fully operational, one had its runway shortened, and one had three craters that needed filling. The only airbase that was completely out of commission was Cairo West, and then only because of Egyptian demolitions.{{sfn|Brookes|1982|pp=72–73}}

===Far East operations===
On 29 October 1957, three Valiants from No. 214 Squadron flew to [[RAF Changi]] in Singapore for a fortnight to gain experience operating in the Far East. This was known as Exercise Profiteer. Subsequently, small detachments of Valiants and Vulcans deployed to the Far East for a fortnight every three months until June 1960. Although the [[Malayan Emergency]] was ongoing at this time, none of the Exercise Profiteer aircraft participated in combat operations.{{sfn|Wynn|1997|pp=442–443}}{{sfn|Proctor|2014|p=95}} When the Valiants were assigned to SACEUR for operations in Europe, the conventional mission in the Middle East was assigned to the Vulcans at RAF Waddington, while that in the Far East was given to the Victors based at RAF Cottesmore and RAF Honington. When the [[Indonesian Confrontation]] heated up in December 1963, eight Victors from Nos 10 and 15 Squadrons were sent to the Far East, where they were based at [[RAF Tengah]] and [[RAAF Butterworth]]. The crews normally served 3{{frac|1|2}}-month tours. No. 10 Squadron was disbanded in March 1964, and No. 15 Squadron in October. No. 12(B) Squadron replaced them at RAAF Butterworth from October.  The Vulcans were recalled to UK in December 1964 whilst the responsibility for the Far East fell on temporary detachments of Vulcans of Nos 9, 12 and 35 Squadrons with up to 16 aircraft for short periods. Tensions decreased after March 1965, and the size of the detachment was cut to four aircraft. As the Waddington Wing converted to the Mk2 Vulcan the responsibility was transferred to Nos 44, 50 and 101 Squadrons.  Annual deployments in support of SEATO continued for some years.{{sfn|Brookes|1982|pp=138–139}}

===Falklands War===
[[File:VulcanblackbuckefJM.jpg|thumb|Vulcan XM597, showing mission markings from its two Black Buck missions and Brazilian internment.]]
During the 1982 Falklands War, Vulcan bombers from Nos 44, 50 and 101 Squadrons, supported by Victor tankers from Nos 55 and 57 Squadrons, carried out a series of seven extremely long-range ground attack missions against Argentine positions in the [[Falkland Islands]]. The operation was codenamed [[Operation Black Buck|Black Buck]]. The objectives of the missions were to attack [[Port Stanley Airport]] and its associated defences.{{sfn|Burden|Draper|Rough|Smith|1986|pp=363–365}} While the Vulcans were capable of carrying conventional munitions, this had not been done for a long time. To carry twenty-one {{convert|1000|lb|adj=on}} bombs, the Vulcan required three sets of bomb carriers, each of which held seven bombs. Their release was controlled by a panel at the navigator's station known as a 90-way that monitored the electrical connections to each bomb, and was said to provide 90 different sequences for releasing the bombs. None of the Vulcans at RAF Waddington were fitted with the bomb racks or the 90-way. 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. Someone remembered that some had been sold to a scrapyard in [[Newark-on-Trent]], and they were retrieved from there. Locating sufficient bombs also proved difficult, and only 167 could be found, and some had cast bomb cases instead of the preferable machined ones.{{sfn|White|2012|pp=126–127}} Training of crews in conventional bombing and in-flight refuelling was carried out from 14 to 17 April 1982.{{sfn|Burden|Draper|Rough|Smith|1986|p=363}}

The raids, at almost {{convert|6800|nmi|km|lk=on}} and 15 hours for the return journey, were the longest-ranged bombing raids in history at the time. The Black Buck raids were staged from [[RAF Ascension Island]], close to the equator. The Vulcans lacked the range to fly to the Falklands without refuelling several times, as did the converted Victor tankers, so they too had to be refuelled in flight. Eleven tankers were required for two Vulcans, a huge [[logistics|logistical]] effort as all aircraft had to use the same runway. The aircraft carried either twenty-one {{convert|1000|lb|adj=on}} bombs internally or two or four [[AGM-45 Shrike|Shrike]] anti-radar missiles externally. Of the five Black Buck raids flown to completion, three were against Stanley Airfield's runway and operational facilities, and the other two were anti-radar missions using Shrike missiles against a Westinghouse [[AN/TPS-43]] long-range 3D radar in the Port Stanley area. Shrikes hit two of the less valuable and rapidly replaced secondary fire control radars, causing minor damage.{{sfn|Burden|Draper|Rough|Smith|1986|pp=363–365}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/OperationBlackBuck.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417122825/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/OperationBlackBuck.cfm |archive-date=17 April 2017 |title=Operation Black Buck |publisher=Royal Air Force |access-date=20 December 2013 }}</ref>