Mk 1 - 575 production missiles produced between 1959 and 1961. On top of that were up to 110 pre production missiles used for the service acceptance firings at Woomera (93 known to have been fired) and up to 180 experimental prototypes built from late 1955 onwards) 11 squadrons formed between 1958 and 1960. 23 1/2 Fire Units ordered. 264 Sqn at North Coates had three, though only 2 were ever used at one time (the originally missiles there in 1958 were prototype rounds that were not part of the main production run). The other 10 squadrons had 2 Fire Units and the 1/2 one was at Aberporth for trials firings (with only 4 launchers). Each Fire unit was spilt into two sections each of which consisted of fire control systems that controlled a Type 83 Radar and 8 missiles on launchers. Each section could lock all 8 missiles onto a target and fire 4 of them in a single salvo against that target. Therefore 32 missiles on launcher per squadron and 8 held as spares giving a total operational force of 352 missiles on launcher and a ready use force of 440. The other missiles were held in reserve to support service evaluation firings not completed at Woomera (mainly to do with ECCM), modification proofing and replacements for Squadron missiles fired in training shoots at Aberporth. 182 production missiles were fired between mid 59 and Nov 63 with the vast majority of that figure from the start of 1961 onwards.
The first squadron to reach IOC was 263 Squadron at Watton in November 1960 (the weapon system didn't complete its service acceptance trials until the middle of that year and it wasn't until 18th November that a fully armed production missile was loaded onto an operational fire unit). The force was finally at full strength in February 1962 with the handover of the last Type 82 and tactical control centre at Lindholme. The whole force was declared to SACEUR on the 1st May 1962 and commenced ORA operations with one section at 10 minutes readiness, the other half of its fire unit at 30 minutes and the rest of the squadron at 2 hours. This was the height of the Bloodhound Mk 1 force and it lasted a total of 28 DAYS!!!! On the 28th May 62, 264 Squadron was taken off alert to allow the squadron to be used in training for the rest of the force in the use of a number of major modifications that had been instigated by HQ Fighter Command in 1961 and were rolled out into the force in early 1962. The main change was the introduction of a sector search capability on the Fire Unit's Type 83 radar which allowed it to find its own targets. Before that, precise target putting on information was given to the Fire Unit automatically from its Tactical Control Centre and without that finding targets by itself required a man in the radar display van to turn hand wheels to steer the dish in azimuth and elevation and then hope. This made the TCC's and the Type 82 radar's redundant as target data could be fed directly to the Fire Units from a Master Radar Station via voice and they were closed down at the end of 1962 / early 1963. The plan was that the Force was to run on until 1965, however, budget cuts resulted in Squadron's being shut down at a rate of two every three months starting with 263 and 94 Squadrons in March 1963 and ending with 62 and 242 Squadrons going non-operational at the end of June 1964. An operational SAM defence of the UK did not then reappear until early 1966 with 112 Squadron at Woodhall Spa.
Bloodhound Mk 2 buy 374 missiles for 5 squadrons.
25 Squadron formed 1963 - Primary role - Production system proofing trials, post R&D and acceptance service trials and Operator Training. Planned equipment allocation - 2x Type 87 Sections 1x Type 86 section all with 4 launchers. 15 Missiles. 1 Engagement control simulator.
65 Squadron formed 1964 - Primary role - Tropical system proofing trials, base defence of Singapore, deployable FEAF Bloodhound 2 force. Planned equipment allocation - 3x Type 87 sections for base defence with 8 launchers. 3x Type 86 sections with 4 launchers for deployment use. 72 missiles. 1 Engagement control simulator.
112 Squadron formed 1964 - Primary role - base defence of Cyprus, however formed at Woodhall Spa due to doubts about the future of the requirement for a SAM defence on the Island which were removed in the 1966 defence review. Planned equipment allocation - 4x Type 87 sections for base defence with 8 launchers. 64 Missiles. 1 Engagement control simulator.
33 Squadron formed 1965 - Primary role - base defence of Butterworth. Planned equipment allocation - 4x Type 87 sections for base defence with 8 launchers. 64 Missiles. 1 Engagement control simulator.
41 Squadron formed 1965 Primary role - UKAD / Reinforcement manpower support to NEAF/FEAF, deployable NEAF Bloodhound 2 force. Planned equipment allocation - 3x Type 87 sections for base defence with 8 launchers. 3x Type 86 sections with 4 launchers for deployment use. 72 missiles. 1 Engagement control simulator.
RAF Newton - primary role - Technical Training 1x Type 87, 1 x Type 86 1x LCP, 2 launchers (missiles as required (normally 3 from reserve stocks)).
RAF Aberporth - primary role - firing range - 1x Type 86 section with 2 launchers. 30 missiles for modification proofing and post service evaluation trial firings.
Operational reserves for squadron firing training - 57 missiles.
With the exception of 112 Squadron who never got their full allocation of equipment, all of the squadrons were fully equipped as above by 1966. The missile evaluation trials which started at Woomera in late 1962 massively overran and were not completed until April 1965 (a mixture of major technical issues which were not easily fixed, the original wing wasn't strong enough for low level use and had to be redesigned, the original boost motors were not powerful enough and there were major problems with the radars. plus the weather in south Australia in 1963-64 was not that good as one D Campbell found out). Likewise the Service acceptance trails at North Coates also massively overran into October 1966, thus even a limited release to service was not issued until late 1965 and the weapon system was still operating on that well into 1967.
65 Squadron was the first Unit to reach IOC in November 1965, with 112 Squadron following in January 1966 with 2 sections with 4 launchers a piece, they gradually built up to the full establishment of 72 missile by the end of 1966, but only had three working sections by the start of 1967 and only 12 launchers with 26 missiles actually available for use or reload, the rest were in boxes. 33 Squadron became operational in late 1966 and 41 Squadron didn't become combat capable until May 1967 when they took over from 112 Squadron. 41 Squadron's 3 Type 87 sections held the 12 hour readiness role until June 1968 and as soon as the RN started deployment of Polaris patrols, 2 of the sections were put on care and maintenance. the remaining section stayed on 12 hour readiness until the day after the bombers came off QRA at which point it was shut down and all three sections were dismantled. As for 25 Squadron, they inherited the three Type 86 radars from 65 Squadron in late 1967 when the FEAF deployable force was wound up. The Squadron was then rerolled to have 4 type 86 sections with 4 launchers (both of the type 87 sections ended up with a full compliment of 8 launchers. One section was allocated as a trails and training section, while the rest became deployable sections for use in NEAF, along with the remaining deployable sections of 41 Squadron. The FEAF force drew down throughout 1968 and 1969 with 33 Squadron returning all of their kit to the UK, while 65 Sqn returned all of remaining parts of their type 86 sections and all of their missiles (most of which were quite badly corroded). The three Type 87 sections were retained for hand over to Singapore. At this point the RAF missile stocks stood at 340, 34 having been fired at Aberporth, though 50 of the 340 were earmarked for transfer via refurbishment at Filton to Singapore. The plan was then to have three sections of 112 Squadron with 12 launchers and 48 missiles on Cyprus, while 25 Squadron's 4 sections would moved to West Raynham and join 41 Squadron thus resulting in the station having 7 sections each with 4 launchers, plus the remaining missiles. One section for trials and operator training use and the rest for deployment when required in either Malta or Libya. This all changed when the requirement for active air defence of airbases in RAFG came up in 1969, which would open a big pot of NATO money. Thus all of the deployable kit, bar the trials section was shipped off to the Clutch Airfields with 25 Squadron in 1970.
The RAF did buy 66 missiles back of the Swedes in 1978 and they did become operational from 1980 onwards (after all of the modifications required that hadn't been embodied by the Swedes were finally manufactured). The RAF ended up firing 90 odd missiles and there were 297 left when the force was phased out in 1991 (at least 2 were scrapped in the 70's due to excessive corrosion or being dropped during loading operations!!!)
The high water mark of the Bloodhound Mk 2 force in the UK would have been between 1984 and late 1985, when there were 6 operational sites with 16 operational sections.
85 Sqn A Flt West Raynham 3x sections with 20 launchers (two with 6 and one with 8).
85 Sqn B Flt North Coates 3x sections with 24 launchers
85 Sqn C Flt Bawdsey 2x sections with 12 launchers
85 Sqn D Flt West Ranyham 2x sections with 12 launchers (earmarked for Coltishall)
25 Sqn A Flt Barkston Heath 2x sections with 16 launchers
25 Sqn B Flt Wyton 2x sections with 16 launchers
25 Sqn C Flt Wattisham 2x sections with 12 launchers
Thus there were 112 operational launchers at the high point with 300 available missiles (the last three were fired in 1986). In theory there was nearly 2 reloads per launcher, however there were a few missiles that were rust buckets that wouldn't have survived a launch (the last RAF missile fired was such a round and it broke up during launch).