The B1A's pictured were fitted with Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) system in a new larger tail cone.

The Avro Vulcan was designed to carry the Blue Steel missile, which was Britain's primary nuclear deterrent until they started operating nuclear armed submarines in the late 1960s.

Early versions of the aircraft, such as these were painted in anti-flash white, designed to reflect thermal radiation from a nuclear explosion.

The Vulcan's first flight was August 30th, 1952, only 7 years after the end of World War II and it was not fully decommissioned until 1984.

As a part of the V-force, the Vulcan was the backbone of the United Kingdom's airborne nuclear deterrent during much of the Cold War. Although the Vulcan was typically armed with nuclear weapons, it was capable of conventional bombing missions, a capability which was used in Operation Black Buck during the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982.

• Some of these images have had some dodging and burning done and have been retouched to remove detritus and dust and scratch marks only*
• Organization: MOD
• Object Name: PRB-1-13959
• Supplemental Categories: Aircraft, Equipment, People, Historic
• Keywords: Avro Vulcan, Bomber, Formation, Occasion, Aircraft, Equipment, Historic, Royal Air Force, RAF, Historic Aircraft, V-force, Nuclear deterrent, Cold War Era, B&W, Black and White, RAF 100
• Country: UK