The Vickers Valiant was a British military jet bomber and the first of the RAF’s V-bomber types to enter service. It helped establish the airborne nuclear deterrent and subsequently undertook aerial-refuelling duties.[1][2]
The V-bomber requirement
The combination of jet propulsion and nuclear weapons changed British bomber planning after the Second World War. A relatively small force could carry weapons of enormous destructive power, while speed and altitude were expected to reduce vulnerability. The V-bombers consequently relied on performance and electronic countermeasures rather than the defensive gun positions of earlier heavy bombers.[1]
Conventional operations
Although designed around nuclear deterrence, Valiants also carried conventional bombs. They attacked Egyptian airfields during the Suez crisis in 1956. This operational employment differed from the strategic mission for which the force had been created and showed that the aircraft could be assigned to conventional campaigns.[1]
Operation Grapple
Valiant XD818 was one of eight aircraft specially modified for Britain’s Operation Grapple nuclear tests. The modifications included scientific instrumentation and protective measures for the crew. On 15 May 1957, with Wing Commander Kenneth Hubbard commanding, it released the Short Granite test device near Malden Island. The RAF Museum’s detailed aircraft record traces its subsequent test deployments and return to ordinary bomber duties.[2]
Refuelling and withdrawal
As later V-bombers entered service, Valiants also became aerial-refuelling tankers. Wing fatigue led to the force’s premature withdrawal in 1965. The aircraft therefore had a shorter operational career than the Vulcan and Victor, despite its early importance in establishing the V-force. Preserved aircraft XD818 connects the type’s service history with the test programme, providing a surviving airframe whose individual movements and modifications are extensively documented.[1][2]