Series of British long-range bombing raids during the Falklands War
v
t
e
Falklands War
Operation Rosario
South Georgia
Occupation
Operation Corporate
Paraquet
Black Buck
Santa Fe
Belgrano
Sobral
Sheffield
Pebble Island
Mikado
Sutton
San Carlos
Ardent
Seal Cove
Antelope
Atlantic Conveyor
Coventry
Goose Green
Mount Kent
Top Malo House
Bluff Cove
Many Branch Point
Mount Harriet
Two Sisters
Glamorgan
Sir Galahad
Mount Longdon
Wireless Ridge
Mount Tumbledown
Port Stanley
Thule & South Sandwich Islands
Operations Black Buck 1 to Black Buck 7 were seven extremely long-range ground attack missions conducted during the 1982 Falklands War by Royal Air Force (RAF) Vulcan bombers of the RAF Waddington Wing, comprising aircraft from Nos. 44, 50 and 101 Squadrons, against Argentine positions in the Falkland Islands. Five of the missions completed attacks. The objective of the missions was to attack Port Stanley Airport and its associated defences. The raids, at almost 6,600 nautical miles (7,600 mi; 12,200 km) and 16 hours for the round trip, were the longest-ranged bombing raids in history at that time.
The Operation Black Buck raids were staged from RAF Ascension Island, close to the Equator. The Vulcan was designed for medium-range missions in Europe and lacked the range to fly to the Falklands without refuelling several times. The RAF's tanker planes were mostly converted Handley Page Victor bombers with similar range, so they too had to be refuelled in the air. A total of eleven tankers were required for two Vulcans (one primary and one reserve), a daunting logistical effort as all aircraft had to use the same runway.
The Vulcans carried either twenty-one 1,000-pound (450 kg) bombs internally or two or four Shrike anti-radar missiles externally. Of the five Black Buck raids flown to completion, three were against Stanley Airfield's runway and operational facilities, while the other two were anti-radar missions using Shrike missiles against a Westinghouse AN/TPS-43 long-range 3D radar in the Port Stanley area. Shrikes hit two of the less valuable and rapidly replaced secondary fire control radars, causing some casualties among the Argentine crews. One Vulcan was almost lost when a breakdown of its refueling system forced it to land in Brazil.
The raids did minimal damage to the runway and damage to radars was quickly repaired. A single crater was produced on the runway, rendering it impossible for the airfield to be used by fast jets. Argentinian ground crew repaired the runway within twenty-four hours, to a level of quality suitable for C-130 Hercules transports. The British were aware that the runway remained in use. It has been suggested that the Black Buck raids were undertaken by the RAF because the British armed forces had been cut in the late 1970s and the RAF may have desired a greater role in the conflict to prevent further cuts.
and 24 Related for: Operation Black Buck information
OperationsBlackBuck 1 to BlackBuck 7 were seven extremely long-range ground attack missions conducted during the 1982 Falklands War by Royal Air Force...
are located in the United Kingdom. Of the four Vulcans deployed in OperationBlackBuck during the Falklands War – XM597, XM598, XM607 and XM612 – all survive...
could also carry out conventional bombing missions, which it did in OperationBlackBuck during the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina...
also used in the Falklands War by the Avro Vulcan bomber during OperationBlackBuck. Carried externally on a pylon under the wing of the attacking aircraft...
becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone. 1982 – OperationBlackBuck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands...
against Argentine positions in the Falkland Islands. The operation was codenamed BlackBuck. The objectives of the missions were to attack Port Stanley...
Tactical Fighter Squadron (Ohio ANG). During the Falklands War, OperationBlackBuck saw three aircraft and crews from Waddington take part in a long-range...
navigation error. The Skyguard radars were targeted by the RAF during OperationBlackBuck on 31 May and 3 June. One Skyguard radar was destroyed by shrapnel...
Vulcans were fitted with Carousels from RAF Vickers VC10s to enable OperationBlackBuck. Military: C-5A/B, KC-135 and its derivatives, C-141 Missiles: Thor...
Vulcan bombers (OperationBlackBuck) and Royal Navy Sea Harriers. The raids were moderately successful, and on the first BlackBuck mission one 1,000-pound...
some of these re-purposed Victors refuelled Vulcan bombers during the BlackBuck raids of the Falklands War. Remaining in the air refueling role, the Victor...
Pacific island of Tinian in the Northern Marianas Islands.) See also OperationBlackBuck for an application of these ideas. In these missions, conducted during...
engagements began on May 1, 1982 with the UK's Royal Air Force initiating OperationBlackBuck, in which the Avro Vulcan bomber XM607 attacked military air bases...
March 2010. White (2006), pp. 115–. Middlebrook (2009), pp. 74–75 "OperationBlackBuck – 1st May to 12 June 1982". Archived from the original on 14 October...
unconventional sense – the Avro Vulcan bombers that participated in OperationBlackBuck had been rapidly retro-fitted with the Dual Delco Carousel navigation...
The most famous refueling missions were the 8,000 nmi (15,000 km) "OperationBlackBuck" sorties which used 14 Victor tankers to allow an Avro Vulcan bomber...
long-range bombing raids was carried out from there under the name OperationBlackBuck. The first mission was on 30 April 1982. In 2017 a parliamentary...
RAF Hawker Siddeley Vulcan B.2 XM598 No. 44 Squadron RAF - Part of OperationBlackBuck in 1982, a cabin pressurization issue caused it to return to base...
Fleet. On 1 May 1982, the Royal Air Force bombed the airport in OperationBlackBuck and several other raids were carried out by embarked Harriers. Through...
launched the opening shots of the British offensive from Ascension in OperationBlackBuck. The RAF also used the base to supply the task force. Because of...
search and rescue as well as communications relay support of the OperationBlackBuck bombing raids by Avro Vulcans. As the Task Force neared what would...
Falklands War: The Royal Air Force completed BlackBuck One, the first mission of OperationBlackBuck, bombing the main runway at Port Stanley Airport...
19 (G-APHV) Avro Vulcan B.2A (XM597) which carried out two of the OperationBlackBuck missions during the Falklands War BAE Systems Hawk T.1A (XX308) in...
Safety Network. Retrieved 1 May 2021. "OperationBlackBuck". Mongsoft. Retrieved 12 May 2011. "Operação BlackBuck: A invasão dos Avro Vulcan nas Ilhas...