British success in the Falklands War relied heavily on the vital contribution of the RAF’s Victor tanker force, but it was in the getting of Vulcan bombers to Stanley for their famous raids for which they were perhaps best-known during the Falklands war.
Re-Fuelling Feats of Victor Tankers in Falklands War
Sitting in the South Atlantic, almost midway between the coasts of Brazil and West Africa, is Ascension Island. In 1982 this volcanic outcrop became crucial to British forces, as nestled on the island was Wideawake airfield – the nearest runway to the Falklands Islands. Even so, it was still 3,900 miles (6,276km) away and represented a logistical nightmare for the RAF and its part in Operation Corporate, the British codename for recapturing the Falklands. Wideawake, and virtually all the sorties that would be staged from it, would require massive strategic tanker support.
The Argentine invasion could not have come at a worse time for the RAF’s tanker fleet. Nine VC-10s were undergoing conversion at BAe’s facility at Filton, near Bristol, with the first not due to fly until June, some two months after the Argentine invasion, and it was impossible to accelerate the programme.
The job of providing in-fl…