Victor Units of the Cold War

Osprey Combat Aircraft #88

by Andrew Brookes, Chris Davey (Illustrator)

Of the three jet bombers that formed the RAF's V-Force in the early years of the Cold War (1946-1991), the Victor was perhaps the most technologically advanced. First flown on December 24, 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 November 30, 1993.

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2011

About the author

Andrew J. Brookes

Reviews

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2011, 'Victor Units of the Cold War' is number 88 in the 'Osprey Combat Aircraft' series. It follows the established layout of several chapters covering various aspects of the Victors operational history with the help of about 87 well captioned photos and 10 pages of colour profile artworks. This can only be a snapshot of the subject matter in its well packed 96 pages, but very nicely done.