31/05/2026
Operation Black Buck
Squadron Leader Bob Tuxfordâs Victor K2 XL189 refuelling Vulcan XM607 en-route to attack Stanley airbase, East Falkland, with 21 x 1000lb bombs.
The night of 30 April-1 May 1982 â Operation BLACK BUCK 1 â The first mission, and the longest night for the air and ground crews involved.
On 29 April, at RAF Waddington, the crews of the first two Vulcans that had been readied for bombing operations in the South Atlantic with 1000lb bombs were making their final preparations for deployment to Ascension Island. Meanwhile, Victor K2 tanker aircraft were already flying extreme long-range reconnaissance missions to the area around South Georgia Island in support of the assault led by 42 Commando on 25 April to recapture the island.
Michael Rondotâs dramatic painting captures the power and beauty of the Handley Page Victor in action during Operation BLACK BUCK, the name given to the series of extreme long-range attacks on the airfield at Stanley, East Falkland. Vulcans from Ascension Island flew the 15-hour round trip, attacking the runway and airfield installations, and targeting radar sites with AGM-45 Shrike missiles.
The Vulcan missions required multiple refuelling, using as many as 18 Victor K2 tanker aircraft sorties with the aircraft operating in concert, including tanker-to-tanker refuelling. The RAF had never before flown anything remotely resembling the scale of this complicated operation. It was a success because of the determination, courage, ingenuity and resourcefulness of the air and ground crews involved in the operation, but the real shining star was the Victor K2. Vulcan bombers wore the laurels after the Falklands War, but it fell to the Victor tankers and their aircrews, engineers and ground support to make any of it possible.
