Of the three jet bombers that formed the RAF's V-Force in the early years of the Cold War, the Victor was perhaps the most technologically advanced. First flown on 24 December 1952, the Victor entered service in B 1 configuration in November 1957. Further improvements were introduced with the B 2, which was optimized for high altitude. Most B 2s were equipped to carry the Blue Steel stand-off missile, but eight were modified in the strategic reconnaissance role because the Victor 2 was then the longest-ranging aircraft in the RAF. The Victor ceased to be a low-level bomber after the nuclear mission was taken over by the Royal Navy's Polaris submarine force in the late 1960s. Thereafter, Victor 1s and 2s continued in frontline service as airborne tankers, supporting operations such as the Falklands War and the Gulf War until the last Victor flight took place on 30 November 1993.

Author Biography

Andrew Brookes completed RAF pilot training after reading history at Leeds University. Following recce and strike tours on Victors, Canberras and Vulcans, during which he logged 3,500 flying hours, he served as a UK nuclear release officer in NATO. He was coordinator of air power studies at the RAF Advanced Staff College. He is now Aerospace Analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He publishes and broadcasts widely. He has written 12 aviation books, including Combat Aircraft 72 - Vulcan Units of the Cold War, and he received the Defence Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award in 2004 and 2006. Chris Davey has illustrated more than 25 titles for Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft and Aviation Elite Units series since 1994. Based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and one of the last traditional airbrush artists in the business, he has become the artist of choice for both USAAF fighters and RAF subject matter.