Great Britain. The first British strategic nuclear bomber, the Vulcan, makes its test flight. Four months later, the Victor follows, on December 25th. The first, however, was the Valiant, which was only a temporary solution to fill a gap in time. The three models (Valiant, Vulcan, Victor) constitute the British nuclear V-Force. 107 Valiants, 136 Avro Vulcans, and 86 Victors will be produced. The Vulcan and Victor projects were approved in June 1952, in competition with each other, given the importance of nuclear deterrence they represented. The Vulcan will be used as a bomber in the Falklands War, while the Victor will be converted into a tanker and will be used successfully in the Falklands War and the First Gulf War. The Vulcan B-1 will be delivered for the first time to the RAF in 1956; Deliveries of the improved B-2 Vulcan began in 1960. The B-2 featured more powerful engines, a larger wing, an improved electrical system and electronic countermeasures, and many were modified to accept the Blue Steel missile. Although the Vulcan was typically armed with nuclear weapons, it could also carry out conventional bombing missions, as it did in Operation Black Buck during the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982.
