Blackburn Buccaneer
| Buccaneer | |
|---|---|
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| Buccaneer S.2B, RAF Mildenhall, 1988 | |
| Role | Maritime strike aircraft |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer |
Blackburn Aircraft Limited Hawker Siddeley |
| First flight | 30 April 1958 |
| Introduction | 17 July 1962 |
| Retired | 31 March 1994 |
| Primary users |
Royal Navy Royal Air Force South African Air Force |
| Number built | 211 |
 Documentary focused on the Buccaneer
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RAF Buccaneer performing display flight in 1993
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Footage of Buccaneer activities during US Red Flag exercise
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The Blackburn Buccaneer was a Royal Navy (RN) carrier-borne attack aircraft designed in the 1950s. Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft at Brough, it was later officially known as the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer when Blackburn became a part of the Hawker Siddeley group, but this name was rarely used.
The Buccaneer was originally designed in response to the Soviet Union's massive Sverdlov-class cruiser construction programme. Instead of building a new fleet of their own, the Royal Navy would use the Buccaneer to attack these ships with relative impunity by approaching at low altitudes below the ship's radar horizon. The Buccaneer would attack using a nuclear bomb or conventional weapons in engagements lasting less than a minute, quickly flying out of range while its weapons struck. It was later intended to carry short-range anti-shipping missiles to further enhance its survivability against more modern ship-based anti-aircraft weapons.
The Buccaneer entered RN service in 1962. The initial production aircraft suffered a series of accidents due to insufficient engine power, which was quickly addressed in the Buccaneer S.2, equipped with more powerful Rolls-Royce Spey engines. The Buccaneer was also offered as an entrant into a new Royal Air Force (RAF) contest for a new attack aircraft. It was initially rejected in favour of the much more advanced supersonic BAC TSR-2, but the cost of this programme led to its cancellation, only to be followed by the cancellation of its selected replacement, the F-111K. The Buccaneer was finally purchased by the RAF, entering service in 1969.
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