Vickers Valiant LLB (Low-Level Bomber)

History of Vickers Valiant LLB (Low Altitude Bomber)

Vickers Valor was part of the RAF's supercritical "V-Bomber" force, an airborne nuclear-capable deterrent operated by the United Kingdom during the Cold War (1947-1991), operated by Valiant warships . Avro, arranged with "Vulcan" and "Victor" on Handley's side. All three stem from advanced design research with roots dating back to the final years of World War II (1939-1945), when turbojet technology combined with swept-wing main airliners became the future of air combat.

Over time, these qualities moved from smaller, more compact fighter and interceptor types to larger, high-performance bomber forms.

From 1951 to 1957, only 107 of the subsonic, nuclear-capable Valiant were built. It entered series production in 1955, and the line was an active part of the RAF until January 1965, when the fleet was retired from front-line service as bombers.

Prior to retirement, the same aircraft formed the basis for a proposed low-altitude bomber program in Vickers Valiant's "Low-altitude Bomber" (LLB), which sought to increase the low-altitude bombing capability to increase the aircraft's tactical viability on the battlefield. Larger aircraft can now be expected to enter and fly closer to the terrain into and over enemy territory, with the hope that bombers will be able to "dive" under the search and track capabilities of Soviet ground-based radar systemswhile retaining useful conventional and nuclear radar system warload capabilities.

The proposed Valiant Mk. 2 production model should be an improved version of the original Mk. 1 offer, but unlike Vulcan and Victor, it was not accepted and promoted by the Air Force. Nonetheless, the Mk.2 was chosen as the starting point for the proposed LLB, while retaining most of its form and function, including a four-engine configuration (the units were buried in the root of the wing), a swept-wing main aircraft and consisting of a bomb-dropping of the internal war load.

The main aircraft has been slightly modified to increase the sweep (reduced span) of the high-speed, supersonic flight envelope, while the fuselage will receive an extension of about 10 feet to accommodate additional fuel reserves, which in turn should help increase the bomber's inherent power range. Major structural changes are made by a revised, larger rear wing to better compensate for the higher speeds.

The main legs of the tricycle landing gear will be embedded in a compliant nacelle located at the trailing edge of the main plane of the wing. Integrated fuel tanks will be located under the wingtips to improve range.

With the combined output of the four engines between 36,000 and 48,000 pounds, the bomber's top speed was estimated at 600 to 650 mph. Due to the excessive take-off weight at full load, the bomber would receive air-to-air refueling once it reached altitude.

Once enhanced for the mission, the bomber can fly 5,000 miles to provide a payload. The fully internally contained bomb load is estimated to be 10,000 pounds, including several 1,000-pound bombs or one 10,000-pound nuclear warhead-delivered munition. Gross weight should be 306,000 lbs.

Other aspects of the bomber, as shown in pencil, have an overall length of 124.5 feet and a wingspan of 81 feet.

Apart from some initial work in 1952, Vickers LLB did not develop further. There have been other attempts to make Valiant more than the original, but these have also failed.

Likewise, both Vulcan and Victor did design studies, but little came up - resulting in many "paper" airplanes based on these three classics.

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