British military aviation during the Cold War was certainly impressive with many a beautiful and interesting an aircraft produced; both the Sea Vixen and the Sea Venom are a testament to the fact.
However there was one aircraft produced during the long war that was not only aesthetically brilliant but was so versatile and capable that it went on to serve for 30 years; the Blackburn Buccaneer.
The Buccaneer was designed specifically to combat Soviet fleet deployments which at the time had become quite a dangerous prospect for the Royal Navy. Requirement specifications called for the Buccaneer to fly at a height of 200 feet above the sea, below ship-borne radar, and deliver a mix of conventional and nuclear weaponry against the enemy fleet.
The Buccaneer S.Mk.1 entered service with the Royal Navy in 1962 and quickly became popular with crews. Underpowered engines troubled the new jet; however, causing take-off issues in certain weather conditions. Due to these engine troubles an uprated version of the Buccaneer, the S.Mk.2, was developed and entered service in 1964.
The Buccaneer would serve with the Fleet Air Arm for another 12 years until 1978 when the HMS Ark Royal was decommissioned ending fixed-wing aircraft service with the Royal Navy.
Notable events during its career include ‘Gunboat Diplomacy’ flights over Honduras successfully discouraging Guatemala from invading its neighbour after it gained independence. Buccaneers also bombed the shipwrecked oil tanker ‘Torey Canyon’ to ignite its cargo and prevent a major oil spill off the British coastline.
It was with the Royal Air Force that the Buccaneer would enjoy a long career. After the TSR-2 project was scrapped and the F-111K project was cancelled due to cost escalations the Royal Air Force was in an awkward position with no modern aircraft on the horizon which; as you can imagine, was a very undesirable situation during the Cold War.
In 1968 the RAF were offered the Buccaneer S.Mk.2B (S.2B in shorthand) which satisfied their needs. In RAF service the Buccaneer would provide both a land strike role and a nuclear weapon delivery role to which the aircraft was perfectly suited.
Now, if there was ever any concern in the United States military over the capabilities of British aircraft or their pilot training then the 1977 Red Flag exercise must have astounded them. Despite a lack of terrain following radar or modern avionics the Buccaneers skimmed the desert floor at a mere 50 feet, breached enemy air defences and hit their targets. In air-to-air trials the Buccaneers, fitted with the AIM-9 Sidewinder, scored many a kill on their American counterparts. It was also at Red Flag that the RAF began experimenting with the Buccaneer and laser guided bombs, something which would pay off in the future.
It wasn’t all a success for the Buccaneer however. In 1980 during a Red Flag exercise a Buccaneer crashed causing the death of its crew. The entire fleet was grounded pending an investigation which found severe metal fatigue surrounding the front wings which could’ve lead to potential failure as happened at Red Flag. Out of the 90 available aircraft only 60 were selected to undergo repairs and a squadron was disbanded in the process.
By the early 80’s the Panavia Tornado began coming into service with the RAF and took over land strike duties from the Buccaneer. The Buccaneer still had a role to play; however, and continued on with maritime strike duties. In this role it would be fitted with the powerful Sea Eagle anti-ship missile which could be considered the British equivalent to the French Exocet and the American Harpoon missiles.
The Tornado was never quite as popular with its crews compared with the Buccaneer; it had less range and it didn’t offer as smooth a ride at low levels. During Operation Desert Storm the RAF lost several Tornados during low level attack runs; Iraqi anti-air defences were stronger than anticipated. A decision was made to switch to higher level precision bombing but the Tornado was only wired for the TIALD pod and the RAF only had two at the time.
Twelve Buccaneers joined the operation, fitted with Pave Spike laser designator pods, and flew ahead of the Tornados designating targets. Initially they did only that; designating for other aircraft, but soon were fitted with laser guided bombs themselves and throughout their participation they dropped 48 LBG’s.
Sadly this would be the last notable actions for the Buccaneer fleet and in 1994 they were decommissioned from service after giving a good 30 years to the British military.
The only other military service to operate the Buccaneer was the South African Air Force which operated the S.Mk.50 variant from 1965 to 1991. With the SAAF the Buccaneer would be involved in Border War as well as regional conflicts.
Having stayed in service for over 30 years and having proven invaluable during modern conflicts such as the Gulf War, despite its age, I can only conclude that the Blackburn Buccaneer is one spectacular aircraft and certainly one of my favourite Cold War era jets.
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