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The Falklands Conflict (Op Corporate) - Operation Black Buck
Avro Vulcan B2 bomber
Former WO1(GSM) Peter Padley MBE
December 01, 2009
OPERATION BLACK BUCK
PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS
• 30th April/1st May 1982: Operation Black Buck
Operation Black Buck consisted of 7 planned raids against Port Stanley Airfield and Argentine anti radar and troop positions. Two raids were cancelled due to meteorological and ‘In Flight’ refuelling problems.
Black Buck 1, as the first of the series, was the high profile operation. Mounted from Ascension Island 2 Avro Vulcan B2 bombers carrying twenty one 1,000 lb general purpose bombs and 13 Victor tankers departed Ascension between 2250 and 2310hrs on the night of 30th April 1982. The operational task was to crater the runway of Stanley Airfield to limit the use of the airfield by the Argentine Air Force.
Captained by Squadron Leader John Reeve, the primary attack Vulcan, XM 598, returned to Ascension after only 4 minutes in the air with pressurization problems. The reserve aircraft, XM 607, captained by Flight Lieutenant Martin Withers settled down to the sixteen hour return flight that was to be the longest range air attack in the history of airborne warfare.
Refueled 5 times before descending to 300 feet 300 miles from the target the Vulcan flew at 300 feet until 40 miles from the target where the aircraft accelerated to 350 knots before ‘popping up’ to 10,000 feet for the bombing run. The runway was cratered at 0400hrs 1st May 1982 with minimal damage being caused to the runway.
XM 607 returned safely to Ascension at the end of an operation that led to the Argentine Air Force removing its Mirage aircraft from Stanley airfield to the Argentine mainland but did not prevent resupply of the Argentine garrison by Hercules C130 aircraft.
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Next article: The Sinking of The ARA General Belgrano
More:
The Falklands War Part 4 – Landing And Consolidation
The Falklands Conflict Part 5 – Battles of Goose Green & Stanley
The Argentine Surrender: Battle for the Falklands – The Final Part
