PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Largets number of V-Force squadrons?
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Old 10th Dec 2005, 19:02
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Jackonicko
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Just behind the back of beyond....
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What on earth is an editor doing commissioning you to write on this if you need to ask such a basic factual question here?

Who's publishing this 'masterpiece'?

Right. With the abuse out of the way, there's a 1962 Orbat (if memory serves) in the back of Bomber Squadrons of the RAF. More usefully, the dates for all the units (except the tanker/recce/ECM units) are given in the back of the HMSO RAF Nuclear Deterrent Forces book. Please don't tell me you've written an article without having that basic reference to hand.

So why not do the job properly, and plot the conversion/disbandment dates of the V-bomber squadrons on a sheet of paper and determine EXACTLY what the peak strength was, and at what date.

The squadrons to look up are:

7, IX, 10, 12, XV, 18, 27, 35, 44, 49, 50, 55, 57, 83, 90, 100, 138, 139, 148, 199, 207, 214, 543, 617, plus OCUs (230 and 232 ONLY)

Without doing your job for you, I'd suggest that the peak would have been at the peak of the Valiant force, a smidge earlier than proone guesses - after May 62 when you'd have had eight Valiant squadrons (depending on whether 18/199 and 90, 214 and 543 count), six Victor squadrons, and seven Vulcan squadrons. but before 3/63 when you'd have had two more Vulcan units and two fewer Valiant units. At some intermediate date between 7/62 and 9/62 there'd have been two extra Vulcan units, without the Valiant squadrons having disbanded. After that Valiant and Victor 1 squadrons vanished without being 'replaced'.

My guess would be a peak of: five Valiant bomber squadrons, one Valiant bomber/tanker squadron, one Valiant tanker squadron, one Valiant recce squadron. Plus four Victor B1 and two Victor B2 squadrons. And three Vulcan B1 and five Vulcan B2 Squadrons. At that time BCDU had no assigned aircraft, and the RRF had just two Victors.
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