Handley Page Victor

HP.80 Victor
Handley Page HP-80 Victor K2 after landing, with drogue parachute deployed
General information
Type	Strategic bomber or aerial refueling tanker aircraft
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Handley Page Limited
Status	Retired
Primary user	Royal Air Force
Number built	86
History
Manufactured	1952–1963
Introduction date	April 1958
First flight	24 December 1952
Last flight	4 May 2009

The Handley Page Victor is a British jet-powered strategic bomber developed and produced by Handley Page during the Cold War. It was the third and final V bomber to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the other two being the Vickers Valiant and the Avro Vulcan. Entering service in 1958, the Victor was initially developed as part of the United Kingdom's airborne nuclear deterrent, but it was retired from the nuclear mission in 1968, following the discovery of fatigue cracks which had been exacerbated by the RAF's adoption of a low-altitude flight profile to avoid interception, and due to the pending introduction of the Royal Navy's submarine-launched Polaris missiles in 1969.

With the nuclear deterrent mission relinquished to the Royal Navy a large V-bomber fleet could not be justified. A number of Victors were modified for strategic reconnaissance, using a combination of radar, cameras, and other sensors. Prior to the introduction of Polaris, some had already been converted into tankers to replace Valiants; further conversions to tankers followed and some of these re-purposed Victors refuelled Vulcan bombers during the Black Buck raids of the Falklands War. The Victor was the last of the V-bombers to be retired from service on 15 October 1993. The Victor was replaced by Vickers VC10 and Lockheed Tristar tankers.