If it's any help, it's true that all the Vulcans had their refuelling probes still attached until Operation Corporate, although the refuelling system hadn't been used for ages. The Hercules and Nimrod probes did indeed come from Vulcans and various Vulcans began to appear without their probes, once they were "robbed" for other aircraft, and as far as I can recall, all the ones that had their probes removed never got them back whilst still in service. Obviously, it was only the small fleet of Black Buck Vulcans (without checking, I think it was six or seven aircraft in all)that had their refuelling system restored.
As for HS125's comments, I don't think it's even open to question that leasing civilian aircraft has worked, does work and will continue work. Clearly, it's much less expensive to simply lease small numbers of aircraft for specific tasks, rather than fund complete squadrons together with all of their logistical support. It's the inevitable way forward, be it good or bad!