When the Cold War made a new generation of British heavy bombers with nuclear capability vital, Vickers rose to the challenge and had the first Valiant flying by May 1951. In less than two years, the company delivered 108 aircraft for RAF service and production continued until 1957.
The black-painted ‘Pathfinder’ version (B Mk II) showed extraordinary promise for high speed, ultra-low level attacks – but the need for this capability was not recognized until a decade later and it was sidelined.
The Valiant was soon ‘blooded’ with conventional bombing raids during the 1956 Suez Crisis – flying ops from Malta – and also played an integral role in the Australian A-bomb tests in 1956 and dropped Britain’s first H-bomb in the Pacific the following year.
