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The Blackburn Buccaneer was a high speed low level attack aircraft that remained in British service from 1962 until 1994, seeing combat during the 1991 Gulf War, nearly thirty years after first entering service.
The Buccaneer was designed in response to Admiralty specification M.148T or N.A.39 of 1952, which called for a high speed low level strike aircraft capable of operating below the enemy’s radar. N.A.39 called for a two seat aircraft with folding wings, a speed of 630mph at sea level, combat radius of 460 miles at low altitude and 920 miles at cruising altitude. It was to be able to carry a payload of 8,000lb, which was to include nuclear weapons, both guided and unguided as well as conventional bombs. A large number of submissions were received, and in July 1955 the Blackburn entry was chosen. An order was placed for twenty pre-production aircraft, with the first to fly in April 1958.
Design
The Buccaneer was a swept wing twin engine aircraft. The engines were carried in long nacelles that were carried on the sides of the fuselage, and extended beyond both the front and rear of the wing. The main wheels retracted into the nacelle, but when they were extended came down level with the outside of the nacelles. The fuselage was built in three sections, following a long standing Blackburn tradition. Each was of all metal semi-monocoque construction. The front section contained the nose and cockpit. The central section included the engine mountings. The rear section included a large area-rule bulge, with the aim of keeping the area of the cross section of the aircraft similar at all along its length. Power was provided by two 7,100lb static thrust de Havilland Gyron Junior turbojets. The wing panels were milled down from solid metal blocks to improve their strength and compensate for the extra stresses of repeated low level flight. One major problem was that a conventional bomb bay doors couldn’t be used at high speed and low altitude. Blackburn solved this problem by installed a revolving weapons bay, open on the top. When it revolved through 180 degrees this became the open door, allowing the weapons to be dropped.
Engine runs with the first prototype began in March 1958. In April it moved from Brough to the RAF at Thurleigh, where it made its maiden flight on 30 April 1958, just meeting the original deadline. The first eight pre-production aircraft were completed in sixteen months, and were used for a range of trials. XK486 was used for general handling trials. XK487 was used for flutter tests. XK488 went to de Havilland for engine development work. XK489 was the first to be completed with folding wings and an arrestor hook and was used for trials on HMS Victorious in January 1960. XK490, which was the first to have the rotating weapons bay was used for armament trials. XK491 was used for electrical trials and in flight refuelling. XK523 joined the trials on Victorious. XK525 tested the complete weapons and electronic navigation system.
Royal Navy Service
In March 1961 No.700Z Flight was formed at Lossiemouth to carry out flying trials and clear the Buccaneer for naval service. This unit ended up with five aircraft, but was disbanded late in 1962.
In 1965 No.800B Flight was commissioned to bring the S.Mk 2 into Naval service. This was a quicker job than for the Mk 1 and the unit was disbanded on 30 September.
The first operational squadron to use the Bucaneer was No.801, which commissioned at Lossiemouth on 17 July 1962. In February 1963 this squadron embarked on HMS Ark Royal, before in August swapping to the Victorious. The squadron remained on the Victorious while it served in the Far East and at Dar es Salaam, but disbanded after the Victorious was paid off at Portsmouth in July 1965.
The squadron was re-commissioned on 14 October 1965 and received the new S.Mk 2. The squadron then embarked on the Victorious, and sailed with the carrier to the Far East. The squadron returned to the UK in 1967. The squadron served on Hermes on several occasions between then and May 1970.
Second to be formed was No.809 Squadron, which was commissioned in January 1963 mainly using aircraft and crews from No.700Z Flight. This was a shore based squadron which helped complete the development of the Buccaneer. In 1965 it was reformed as the operational training squadron for the Buccaneer, No.736.
No.809 Squadron was reformed at Lossiemouth on 27 January 1966 with the Mk 2. In 1967 it embarked on Hermes and operated off Gibraltar.
No.800 was the third and final squadron to use the Buccaneer S.Mk.1. It was commissioned on 19 March 1965 then embarked on HMS Eagle on 2 December and departed for the Far East. During 1965 they took part in the blockade of the oil terminal at Beira, part of a blockade of Rhodesia. In 1966 they got the Mk.2 and embarked on Eagle. On 28 March 1967 aircraft from the squadron and from No.736 Squadron were used to destroy the wreck of the oil tanker Torrey Canyon, which had run aground off Land’s End and was leaking crude oil onto Cornish beaches.
No.803 Squadron was formed on 3 July 1967 with the Mk 2 and embarked on Hermes from August 1968 to January 1969.
However by this point the Buccaneer’s time with the Navy was coming to an end. In 1965 the Labour Defence Minister, Denius Healey, cancelled all new RAF aircraft programmes. He then reviewed the Navy’s role and decided that land based RAF aircraft could perform the same role as the carriers at lower cost. New carrier construction was cancelled and the existing carrier force was to be run down by the end of 1971.
In 1970 the Conservatives came to power, but decided not to change the plans to eliminate the fixed wing carriers, although it was to be slowed down. Eagle was placed into the reserve and Hermes turned into a Commando carrier. Only HMS Ark Royal would be kept. 62 of the Navy’s Mk 2s went to the RAF, while 22 were kept for use with No.809 Squadron on the Ark Royal.
In September 1974 No.809 squadron embarked on the Ark Royal, fully equipped with the S.Mk 2D. They embarked on her for the final time in April 1978, then flew off her for the last time on 27 November 1978 to fly directly back from the Mediterranean to RAF St. Athan. All but two of the Navy’s Buccaneers then went to the RAF.
Royal Air Force Service
The RAF hadn’t originally wanted the Buccaneer. Instead they were waiting for the supersonic TSR-2, but that aircraft never reached service, and was cancelled in April 1965. The original plan was to replace the TSR-2 with fifty American F-111Ks, which were ordered in February 1966 but cancelled in January 1968. Finally, in July 1968 an order was placed for twenty-six Buccaneer S.2Bs for the RAF, which would operate alongside the larger number of ex-naval aircraft they would soon inherit.
RAF aircrews began to convert to the Buccaneer at the Fleet Air Arm’s 736 Squadron, and trained with No.809 Squadron on the Ark Royal. No.237 OCU was formed in March 1971 giving the RAF its own Buccaneer training unit.
No.12 Squadron was the first RAF squadron to gain the Buccaneer, reforming with the aircraft at Honington on 1 October 1969. It was used as a maritime strike squadron and inherited ex Navy aircraft. The squadron began to receive S.2As that had been upgraded to S.2B standard in 1972.
No.15 Squadron was the second RAF Buccaneer squadron, and was formed on 1 October 1970 at Honington with new S.2Bs. It was a low level strike squadron and in January 1971 moved to RAF Laarbruch on the Dutch-German border.
No.16 Squadron was the third RAF Buccaneer squadron, and formed at Laarbuch on 6 June 1972, joining No.15.
No.208 Squadron was the fourth RAF Buccaneer squadron and formed at Honington on 1 July 1974 as another overland strike squadron.
No.216 Squadron was the fifth RAF Buccaneer squadron and formed at Honington on 1 July 1979 as a second maritime strike squadron.
On 7 February 1980 a Buccaneer from No.15 Squadron broke up in the air. The Buccaneer was grounded while the problem was investigated. The problem was that the ground attack aircraft were being put under much more stress than they were designed for, having to follow the rugged terrain instead of operating over the sea. Cracks were found in the wings of many aircraft. They all had to be examined, and those that couldn’t easily repaired were scrapped.
As a result No.216 Squadron was disbanded and its aircraft and men joined No.12 Squadron. In 1983 No.208 Squadron became a maritime attack squadron, and the squadrons in German began to be run down. In October 1983 No.15 Squadron converted to the Tornado, followed in February 1984 by No.17 Squadron.
In February 1985 work began on updating sixty S.2Bs, giving them a new inertial navigation system, better ECM equipment and armaments. Only two squadrons were left, Nos.12 and 208, both serving as maritime strike squadrons. By 1988 they had added the Sea Eagle anti-shipping missile to their equipment.
The Buccaneer's only significant combat came during the 1991 Gulf War. The first six aircraft departed for the Middle East on 26 January 1991. They were used as target designators for Tornado strikes. Each strike normally contained four Tornados and two Buccaneers. The Buccaneers carried laser designator pods and were used to light up the targets for the Tornado’s laser guided bombs then use their own bombs. During the war they flew 218 missions and dropped 48 laser guided bombs.
After the end of the Cold War it was decided to retire the Buccaneer early. The Tornado was modified to carry the Sea Eagle and the last Buccaneers retired from RAF service in March 1994.
South African Service
The only overseas orders for the Buccaneer came from South Africa. On 11 October 1962 the South Africans ordered sixteen Buccaneer S.Mk 50s, which were similar to the Mk.2 but with the naval equipment removed. An option was taken out for another fourteen. This was part of the Simonstown Agreement, in which Britain gained use of the Simonstown naval base. However on 25 February 1965 in response to increasing pressure not to sell arms to the racist South African government the British Government announced that only the first sixteten aircraft would be delivered. Fifteen of the sixteen aircraft were delivered by 1966, with one being lost during a delivery flight. In South African use the Buccaneer saw combat during the South Africa Border War, attacking targets in Angola and Namibia. Only five of the aircraft were still operational when the type was retired in 1991.
Variants
Buccaneer S.Mk 1
This designation was given to aircraft with the de Havilland engines. However these engines were somewhat underpowered, which could cause problems in emergency situations. As a result production soon moved onto the S.Mk. 2.
Buccaneer S.Mk 2
The S.Mk 2 was powered by two 11,200lb static thrust Rolls-Royce Spey bypass engines. The extra power reduced the danger posed by engine problems during carrier operations and also increased the aircraft’s range. The S.Mk 2 was ordered into production on 8 January 1962, before the first Mk.1s had entered service. The first engine runs were made on 8 April 1963 and the maiden type of the Mk 2 on 17 May.
Ten S.2s were ordered in January 1962. Eventually 84 were ordered, with the last being delivered in December 1968.
Buccaneer S.Mk 2A
The S.Mk 2A designation was used for sixty-two Navy Buccaneers that were transferred to the RAF and converted to RAF standards.
Buccaneer S.Mk 2B
The S.Mk 2B was the designation given to the first version of the Buccaneer to be ordered by the RAF. Twenty six were ordered in July 1968, after the cancellation first of the TSR-2 and then of orders for the F-111K. A total of 49 were produced, with the last being delivered on 6 October 1977.
The S.Mk 2B had a stronger undercarriage and enlarged weapons bay, allowing it to carry up to 16,000lb of weapons. It had a higher all up weight of 62,000lb and could carry more fuel. The wing folding mechanism was retained to avoid having to develop a new wing, but other dedicated carrier equipment was removed. It was designed to use the Hawker Siddleley Dynamics/ Matral Martel air-to-surface missile, carrying four on underwing pylons. It could also carry laser guided bombs, Sea Eagle anti shipping missiles and AIM-9 Sidewinders.
Buccaneer S.Mk 2C
The S.Mk 2C was the designation given to Royal Navy Buccaneer S.Mk 2s that weren’t equipped to carry the Hawker Siddleley Dynamics/ Matral Martel air-to-surface missile.
Buccaneer S.Mk 2D
The S.Mk 2D was the designation given to those Buccaneers which were converted to carry the Martel missile.
Buccanner S.2
Engine: Two 11,100lb static thrust Rolls-Royce R.B.168-1A Spey engines
Crew: 2
Span: 44ft 0in (19ft 11in folded)
Length: 63ft 5in (51ft 10in folded)
Height: 16ft 3in
Empty weight: 29,980lb
Loaded: 45,000lb (62,000lb on S.2B)
Max speed: 645mph at sea level
Climb Rate:
Service ceiling:
Tactical Radius: 500-600 miles
Range: 1,730 (2,300 for S.2)
Armament (S.2B): 16,000lb including 1,000lb bombs, Paveway laser-guided bombs, Martel or Sea Eagle anti-shipping missile, Sidewinders
Bomb load: