30 years ago today, one of the RAF’s greatest missions of all time: a long range surprise attack

The Aviationist ^ | April 30, 2012 | Richard Clements

[sukhoi-30mki]

30 years ago today, one of the RAF’s greatest missions of all time: a long range surprise attack to the Falklands

April 30, 2012

At 22.30, on Apr. 30, 1982, the first engine of some 13 Hadley Page Victor K2 Tanker aircraft spooled into life and announced the start of one of the RAF’s greatest missions of all time.

It all started a few weeks previously, when some Argentinean scrap metal merchants had claimed some remote British Islands called South Georgia in the name of Argentina. It culminated in General Leopold Galtiere invading the British dependency of the Falkland Islands and claiming them. Britainwas outraged and the “Falkands Conflict” began.

A naval “Task Force” was rapidly assembled and set sail fromPortsmouth and many other Naval bases. The task force comprised two carriers, the HMS Hermes and the new HMS Invincible, and a multitude of other destroyers, frigates and tankers that were called back from where ever they were worldwide and all set sail for the South Atlantic.

Rather conveniently, at around the halfway point to the Falkland Islands is the British dependency of Ascension Island, a volcanic outcrop right in the middle of the Atlantic fairly close to the equator.

The Island is dominated by a dormant volcano and an airstrip with an unusually long runway, built by the Americans as a divert runway for the Shuttle program. The sleepy airfield was about to become a lot more busier, with the British establishing an air bridge connecting Wideawake (Ascension Island Airfield) with the UK, bringing in tons and tons of supplies for the task force heading south.

Whilst all of this was taking place, the RAF was looking into how they could get involved with what was up until now a naval affair. They

[headstamp 2]

Always loved how the British basically “molded” the jet engines right into the wing designs. (Comet,etc.) Made them so sleek looking.

[Yo-Yo]

Made them so sleek looking.

Right up until the time you have an engine fire...

[ravager]

The Argie airforce today is joke. They are actually far weaker today then anytime during the Falkland war. They hardly have any modern fighter. Even without the British navy ACs, the Brits have land based Typhoon Euro fighter station on Falkland this time to cut down the Argies to size. The Argies have absolutely nothing that can take on the Typhoons. Falkland war will be over in matter of hours.

However if Venezuela was to lend them their Su-30MKs that could change the game all together.

[Tommyjo]

The stick of bombs that missed are from the second Black Buck mission (Black Buck 2). Black Buck 1s stick are located near the center of the runway. The first bomb of that string hit the runway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Black_Buck