V Bombers  
Britain's Nuclear Frontline
Author(s): Tony Redding
Published by Grub Street
Publication Date:  Available in all formats
ISBN: 9781911714613
Pages: 0

EBOOK (EPUB)

ISBN: 9781911714613 Price: INR 1356.99
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A sobering and necessary read for all those interested in Cold War history.

Much has been written about the V-bombers – the Valiant, Victor and Vulcan – but virtually nothing has been said about their strategic nuclear strike role. How would Britain’s small force of subsonic bombers have retaliated following a Soviet attack? Would they have succeeded in visiting thermonuclear catastrophe on their Soviet targets?

V-Bombers: Britain’s Nuclear Frontline is the first detailed account of the operational capability and credibility of Britain’s airborne nuclear deterrent during the peak years of the Cold War. This book is the product of six years of research by the author, Dr Tony Redding. It includes a great deal of fresh material on V-force weapons, war mission, targeting, vulnerabilities and tactics for attacking targets within Soviet Russia. Over 70 V-force aircrew and ground crew were interviewed and over 300 operational research reports and other official documents were reviewed. This book demonstrates how the V-bombers retained a unilateral capacity to destroy the largest cities in the Soviet Union until the handover of the strategic nuclear deterrent to the Polaris submarines in 1969. It concludes that a small force of surviving V-bombers could have unleashed the explosive power of all Allied bombs dropped on Germany in six years of war, but in the space of the first two hours of World War 3. A sobering thought and a fascinating and necessary read for all those interested in this period of history.
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A sobering and necessary read for all those interested in Cold War history.

Much has been written about the V-bombers – the Valiant, Victor and Vulcan – but virtually nothing has been said about their strategic nuclear strike role. How would Britain’s small force of subsonic bombers have retaliated following a Soviet attack? Would they have succeeded in visiting thermonuclear catastrophe on their Soviet targets?

V-Bombers: Britain’s Nuclear Frontline is the first detailed account of the operational capability and credibility of Britain’s airborne nuclear deterrent during the peak years of the Cold War. This book is the product of six years of research by the author, Dr Tony Redding. It includes a great deal of fresh material on V-force weapons, war mission, targeting, vulnerabilities and tactics for attacking targets within Soviet Russia. Over 70 V-force aircrew and ground crew were interviewed and over 300 operational research reports and other official documents were reviewed. This book demonstrates how the V-bombers retained a unilateral capacity to destroy the largest cities in the Soviet Union until the handover of the strategic nuclear deterrent to the Polaris submarines in 1969. It concludes that a small force of surviving V-bombers could have unleashed the explosive power of all Allied bombs dropped on Germany in six years of war, but in the space of the first two hours of World War 3. A sobering thought and a fascinating and necessary read for all those interested in this period of history.
Table of contents
  • COVER
  • TITLE
  • COPYRIGHT
  • CONTENTS
  • AUTHOR’S NOTE
  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • INTRODUCTION
  • 1. BRITAIN’S AIRBORNE DETERRENT
  • 2. SPECIAL WEAPONS
  • 3. POWERED BOMBS AND LAYDOWN BOMBS
  • 4. THE V-FORCE MISSION
  • 5. DELIVERING THE MISSION
  • 6. V-FORCE PILOTS
  • 7. NAVIGATORS, AEOS AND GROUND CREW
  • 8. ON THE NUCLEAR FRONTLINE
  • 9. DESTROYING THE TARGETS
  • 10. THE THREAT TO THE AIRFIELDS
  • 11. QUICK REACTION ALERT
  • 12. CUBA AND LIFE ON QRA
  • 13. REDUCING EXPOSURE ON THE GROUND
  • 14. GENERATING WEAPON SYSTEMS
  • 15. SURVIVING A WAR SCRAMBLE
  • 16. LIVING ON YOUR NERVES
  • 17. SOVIET AIR DEFENCES
  • 18. PENETRATING THE DEFENCES
  • 19. ECM AND OTHER COUNTERMEASURES
  • 20. ATTACKING TARGETS
  • 21. TRAINING FOR A ONE-STRIKE WAR
  • 22. SHOULD DETERRENCE FAIL…
  • SELECTED RESEARCH SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
  • NOTES TO CHAPTERS
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