Vickers Valiant B.2
The Vickers Valiant came out of the same postwar specification drawn up by the Royal Air Force for a nuclear-capable, all-jet bomber force to replace the huge numbers of Avro Lancaster and Lincoln bombers then making up the backbone of Bomber Command. This became known as the “V-Bomber” force for the names of each aircraft: the Avro Vulcan, Handley-Page Victor, and Vickers Valiant.
The latter almost never made it to production. Both the Vulcan and Victor used revolutionary wing designs that the British Air Ministry was not entirely sure would work. As a hedge against the failure of either or both of the other designs, Vickers was given the nod to develop the Type 660, which had been initially rejected as too conservative; helping matters considerably was the company’s promise to fly a prototype in 1951—a very short time, considering the specification was issued in 1949. Vickers delivered, however, the first Valiant B.1 taking to the air in May 1951, and deliveries commencing in December 1953, despite the loss of the first prototype to a fire.
As designed, the Valiant was not particularly remarkable, but it was not designed to be: unlike the Vulcan’s all-delta wing and the Victor’s cruciform wing and bulbous fuselage, both considered radical at the time, the Valiant had nothing particularly revolutionary about its design, which was partially inspired by the Boeing B-47 Stratojet and had similar performance. Despite this, however, it had superb performance, able to reach speeds just below the speed of sound at altitude and with the best climb rate of any of the V-bombers, as well as carry the large atomic bombs of the time. Valiants were used to test the first British air-droppable nuclear bombs in the mid-1950s, and would be the only one of the V-bombers to drop bombs in combat: a number of Valiants were used to attack Egyptian airfields during the 1957 Suez War, with mixed results. As the V-force would need air refuelling to reach targets deep inside the Soviet Union, a number of Valiants were converted or purpose-built as Valiant B(K).1s, and these were used extensively during the 1950s.
The Valiant was to have a comparatively short life, however. Due to the increased surface-to-air missile defenses of the Soviet Union by 1960, the V-bombers were forced to the low-level penetration role. While this was not difficult for any of the V-force, it had unintended consequences for the Valiant: due to the type of aluminum alloy used in its construction, the Valiant was particularly vulnerable to metal fatigue, made worse by the switch to low-level operations. After a near-fatal collapse of a wing spar in August 1964, the Valiant force was grounded for inspection, which revealed wing cracks in most of the aircraft. As there was nothing the Valiant could do that the Vulcan and Victor could not do as well, it was decided to retire the Valiant in 1965 as a cost-saving measure. The force was rapidly taken out of service, replaced by the Vulcan in the bomber role and Victor as tankers. Of 107 aircraft produced, only one still exists today, at RAF Museum Cosford.
The Valiant in the Malmstrom Museum’s Foreign Bombers collection is the sole Valiant B.2 produced. This aircraft was a purpose-built low altitude penetration version of the Valiant, with longer wings, upgraded engines and a strengthened airframe, which increased its speed nearly to supersonic at sea level. It was painted overall gloss black for night operations; as the only Valiant so painted, it became known simply as the “Black Bomber.” Though it offered superior performance to the Valiant B.1, the B.2 was cancelled in 1955 and was destroyed as a ground gunnery target a few years afterwards.
Vickers Valiant B.2
The Vickers Valiant came out of the same postwar specification drawn up by the Royal Air Force for a nuclear-capable, all-jet bomber force to replace the huge numbers of Avro Lancaster and Lincoln bombers then making up the backbone of Bomber Command. This became known as the “V-Bomber” force for the names of each aircraft: the Avro Vulcan, Handley-Page Victor, and Vickers Valiant.
The latter almost never made it to production. Both the Vulcan and Victor used revolutionary wing designs that the British Air Ministry was not entirely sure would work. As a hedge against the failure of either or both of the other designs, Vickers was given the nod to develop the Type 660, which had been initially rejected as too conservative; helping matters considerably was the company’s promise to fly a prototype in 1951—a very short time, considering the specification was issued in 1949. Vickers delivered, however, the first Valiant B.1 taking to the air in May 1951, and deliveries commencing in December 1953, despite the loss of the first prototype to a fire.
As designed, the Valiant was not particularly remarkable, but it was not designed to be: unlike the Vulcan’s all-delta wing and the Victor’s cruciform wing and bulbous fuselage, both considered radical at the time, the Valiant had nothing particularly revolutionary about its design, which was partially inspired by the Boeing B-47 Stratojet and had similar performance. Despite this, however, it had superb performance, able to reach speeds just below the speed of sound at altitude and with the best climb rate of any of the V-bombers, as well as carry the large atomic bombs of the time. Valiants were used to test the first British air-droppable nuclear bombs in the mid-1950s, and would be the only one of the V-bombers to drop bombs in combat: a number of Valiants were used to attack Egyptian airfields during the 1957 Suez War, with mixed results. As the V-force would need air refuelling to reach targets deep inside the Soviet Union, a number of Valiants were converted or purpose-built as Valiant B(K).1s, and these were used extensively during the 1950s.
The Valiant was to have a comparatively short life, however. Due to the increased surface-to-air missile defenses of the Soviet Union by 1960, the V-bombers were forced to the low-level penetration role. While this was not difficult for any of the V-force, it had unintended consequences for the Valiant: due to the type of aluminum alloy used in its construction, the Valiant was particularly vulnerable to metal fatigue, made worse by the switch to low-level operations. After a near-fatal collapse of a wing spar in August 1964, the Valiant force was grounded for inspection, which revealed wing cracks in most of the aircraft. As there was nothing the Valiant could do that the Vulcan and Victor could not do as well, it was decided to retire the Valiant in 1965 as a cost-saving measure. The force was rapidly taken out of service, replaced by the Vulcan in the bomber role and Victor as tankers. Of 107 aircraft produced, only one still exists today, at RAF Museum Cosford.
The Valiant in the Malmstrom Museum’s Foreign Bombers collection is the sole Valiant B.2 produced. This aircraft was a purpose-built low altitude penetration version of the Valiant, with longer wings, upgraded engines and a strengthened airframe, which increased its speed nearly to supersonic at sea level. It was painted overall gloss black for night operations; as the only Valiant so painted, it became known simply as the “Black Bomber.” Though it offered superior performance to the Valiant B.1, the B.2 was cancelled in 1955 and was destroyed as a ground gunnery target a few years afterwards.