RAF Vulcan nuclear missions - returning to base planning
Upvote:2
My late father commanded a B-47 bomb squadron from 1955-1964. The B-47 was a medium range bomber that was frequently forward deployed for weeks at a time at bases in Spain, Turkey and Libya, and kept there armed and on alert. After reading that the Air Force had declassified the list of Soviet and Warsaw Pact targets developed by the Strategic Air Command, I saw my father's former navigator and asked him whether it was true that after their mission they would fly to Turkey and eject, then walk home. He said, only, that "bailing out was definitely part of the plan."
Upvote:8
None of the statements above are incorrect. All V-Force routes had a recovery plan. Essentially plan to reach the overhead of a designated recovery airfield at heights up to 56,000 feet. Post 1964 a change to the oxygen system reduced this to 50,000 feet (when V-Force switched to low-level operations) although the aircraft could fly higher and crews would probably accept the risk if they thought it worthwhile. It was planned for a minimum of 4,000 lbs of fuel, half the peacetime landing minimum. Then try and contact any available airfield for instructions.
It was never planned to land in a neutral country but . . .
The biggest problem was for missions from Cyprus and there was a plan for one-way introduced in 1973. These were introduced in case of a delay between launch and positive release as communications between UK and Cyprus might be problematic. Obviously this terminated in 1974, when Turkey invaded Cyprus and the Vulcans withdrew from there.
In the event of successful abandonment pre-1967 the WW2 escape lines might have been used. Post-1967 a revised plan was devised.
For a source, consult: RAF V-Force Operations by Andrew Brookes (published by Haynes)
Then what?
In response to a comment about who is in charge ... regarding the pilot in command being the most senior was questionable. In the 70s, post-Hodgkinson, about 10% of a squadron crew were Sqadron Leader in rank, and probably half were not pilots. In the air, the pilot captain was indeed in command but not post landing. The captain might be only 23 with 50 year old rear crew.
With an all-junior-officer-crew things could be more interesting. Unless one had been specifically nominated as senior, and in the case of the V-Force that was a given as Captains were appointed by a 2*, but if he didn't survive, command amongst junior officers was by mutual agreement.
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