page_title: Handley Page Victor
section_title: Operators
hierarchical_section_title: Handley Page Victor / Operators
caption_attribution_description: A Handley Page Victor preserved at Imperial War Museum Duxford.
context_page_description: The Handley Page Victor is a British jet-powered strategic bomber, developed and produced by Handley Page, which served during the Cold War. It was the third and final V bomber to be operated by the Royal Air Force, the other two being the Avro Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. The Victor had been developed as part of the United Kingdom's airborne nuclear deterrent. In 1968, it was retired from the nuclear mission following the discovery of fatigue cracks, which had been exacerbated by the RAF's adoption of a low-altitude flight profile to avoid interception.
  A number of Victors were modified for strategic reconnaissance, using a combination of radar, cameras, and other sensors. As the nuclear deterrence mission was given to the Royal Navy's submarine-launched Polaris missiles in 1969, a large V-bomber fleet could not be justified. Consequently, many of the surviving Victors were converted into aerial refuelling tankers. During the Falklands War, Victor tankers were used in the airborne logistics operation to repeatedly refuel Vulcan bombers on their way to and from the Black Buck raids.
context_section_description: Royal Air Force
  No. 10 Squadron RAF operated B.1 from April 1958 to March 1964 at RAF Cottesmore.
  No. 15 Squadron RAF operated B.1 from September 1958 to October 1964 at RAF Cottesmore.
  No. 55 Squadron RAF operated B.1 and B.1As from RAF Honington from October 1960, moving to RAF Marham and receiving B.1(K)A tankers in May 1965. These were replaced by K.2 in July 1975, with the squadron continuing to operate Victors in the tanker role until disbanding in October 1993.
  No. 57 Squadron RAF operated B.1As from RAF Honington from March 1959, moving to RAF Marham in December 1965 for conversion to K.1 and later K.2 tankers until disbanding in June 1986.
  No. 100 Squadron RAF operated B.2s at RAF Wittering from May 1962 to September 1968.
  No. 139 (Jamaica) Squadron RAF operated B.2s from RAF Wittering from February 1962 to December 1968.
  No. 214 Squadron RAF operated K.1 tankers from RAF Marham from July 1966 to January 1977.
  No. 543 Squadron RAF operated B(SR).2s from RAF Wyton from December 1965 to May 1974.
  No. 232 Operational Conversion Unit RAF.
  Radar Reconnaissance Flight RAF Wyton.
caption: Victor B.1A (K.2P) XH648 preserved at the Imperial War Museum Duxford
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