After WWII, the UK very much wanted to be a major player in the nuclear game, but was frustrated by the lack of information coming from the US. This meant that they had to pretty much develop their own weapons. These were, as were all early nuclear weapons, rather large, so they needed bombers to carry them. The US did loan the B-29 (Washington) until the first of the V bombers was operational so they'd have something to use against the Soviets (who were also using B-29s (Tu-4s) to carry their bombs.

With the advent of the V-bombers (Valiant, Victor and Vulcan), the UK had a plane that could do the job. It also brought forward a multiplicity of interesting and somewhat unique proposals on methods to deliver these weapons. Just dropping a bomb didn't seem to be enough. Many of these proposals involved what we now call stand off weapons that were powered, released from the mother aircraft, and sent on to the target, often hundreds of miles away.

As the technology went forward, the size of the weapons got smaller and the ideas seemed to blossom even more. Since these weapons were nearly all designed for the V-bomber force (which in the end meant the Vulcan), so is the title of the book.

Now not all were strictly V-bomber ideas. Some were full blown aircraft/weapons systems on their own and some were designed for the TSR-2, which we now know was cancelled by the usual short-sightedness of politicians, many of whom know not their posterior from an excavation. This book does not enter into that debate, but concentrates on the proposals and mockups and sometimes the successful deployment of these weapons.

From reading, it seems the only powered system to actually make it into operational use, despite its many glitches, was the Blue Steel stand off weapon. The UK had much hope on the US Skybolt, but had to settle for the Polaris submarine instead. In fact, it was the sea or land based missile that put the kibosh on may of the projects.

Author Chris Gibson has really done a superlative job of researching all of these various systems and bringing them to light. It is an immensely readable account and one can just feel the frustration as one proposal after another gets money put into it and nothing comes to fruition. It is an excellent book and while it may not be everyone's cup of tea, those who have an interest in these sorts of weapons and proposals will find it a gold mine of information.

June 2011

Review book courtesy of Specialty Press, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb aviation and modeling books. Visit their website at the link above or call them at 1-800-895-4585

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