Originally Posted by
RetiredBA/BY
So far as I know apart from Grapple no V ever flew with a live weapon. In the event that aircraft were to be dispersed for real, and British weapons loaded, an element of the weapon was removed before flight, making it inert so nuclear reaction in the event of a crash, and replaced on arrival at the disposal airfield.
It was called LML, last minute loading, and were trained to do it at Marham.
In my day the Valiants on QRA were loaded with American weapons and never left the QRA compound.
Of course, being a mere FG OFF. Co pilot I may not have had the full story, and it is over 50 years ago!
Thank you for confirming what I had understood, so as I understand it, for a V Force Bomber with a British Weapon on board to be ready to scramble from a dispersal field, the two parts of the weapon had to be fitted together, I assume not a 5 minute task, one that required skilled trained staff, as well as necessary security, not all necessarily immediately available at all the dispersal sites?
Implicit in what I am saying I suppose is that during a dispersal exercise, the UK's available response was dramatically reduced as many of the V Force would have been in the air and whilst having weapons on board, these weapons were not live.