"In the future, war will be waged essentially against the unarmed populations of the cities and great industrial centers."
- Italian General Giulio Douhet

The Avro Vulcan, sometimes referred to as the Hawker Siddeley Vulcan, is a delta wing subsonic jet strategic bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1953 until 1984. It was developed in response to a specification released by the Air Ministry. At the time, both jet engines and delta wings were considered cutting-edge and relatively unexplored; thus, the small-scale Avro 707 was produced to test the principles of the design. In flight, the Vulcan was an agile aircraft for its size.

The Vulcan B.1 was first delivered to the RAF in 1956. In service, the Vulcan was armed with nuclear weapons and was a part of the RAF's V bomber force, the United Kingdom's airborne deterrent against aggression from other powers such as the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In addition to an extensive electronic countermeasures suite, the Vulcan had a small radar cross-section, aiding its deterrent role by evading detection and therefore increasing the likelihood of penetrating Soviet airspace and deploying its weapons load successfully. A second batch of aircraft, the B.2, was produced with new features, including a larger wing and greater fuel capacity, along with more advanced electronics and radar systems.

The B.2s were adapted into several other variants, the B.2A carrying the Blue Steel missile, the B.2 (MRR) for Marine Radar Reconnaissance use, and the K.2 tanker for air-to-air refuelling. The Vulcan was also used in the secondary role of conventional bombing near the end of its service life in the 1982 Falklands War against Argentina during Operation Black Buck. One example, XH558, was recently restored for use in display flights and commemoration of the employment of the aircraft in the Falklands conflict.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a RAF Avro Vulcan strategic bomber that took part in the 'Vulcan to the Sky' Return to Flight project, which took place in October 2007. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 22-inches
Length: 22-1/2-inches

Release Date: September 2014

Historical Account: "Vulcan to the Sky" - After the disbanding of the last Vulcan squadron in 1984 and the subsequent grounding of the Vulcan Display Flight in 1992, the skies over England were deprived of the unique sight and sound of the Avro Vulcan.

This was rectified in October 2007 when after years of hard work the Vulcan to the Sky Trust succeeded in having a Vulcan grace UK skies once more. Various CAA approvals had to be sought and many observers thought that it would never happen but, thanks to tireless fund raising and countless man hours of hard work by the team, XH558 took to the air once more. This was the same aircraft that had been grounded in 1992, having spent the time in-between performing taxi runs and being meticulously looked after, in preparation for returning to its proper place, in the air.