Blackburn Buccaneer

The Blackburn Buccaneer was a British low-level strike aircraft with nuclear weapon capability serving with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force between 1962 and 1994, including service in the 1991 Gulf War. Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft it was later known as the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer when Blackburn became a part of the Hawker Siddeley group. In the early 1950s the Russian Navy introduced the Sverdlov class cruiser i... more

The Blackburn Buccaneer was a British low-level strike aircraft with nuclear weapon capability serving with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force between 1962 and 1994, including service in the 1991 Gulf War. Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft it was later known as the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer when Blackburn became a part of the Hawker Siddeley group. In the early 1950s the Russian Navy introduced the Sverdlov class cruiser into service. Light cruisers by Second World War measure, they were fast, effectively armed, and numerous. They presented a serious threat to the merchant fleets in the Atlantic, similar to the German "pocket battleships" of the war, but in far greater numbers and over 25% faster. To counter this threat the Royal Navy decided to counter the Sverdlovs not with a new ship class of their own, but a new specialised strike aircraft employing conventional or nuclear weapons. Operating from their fleet carriers and attacking at high-speed and low... less