Strike from the North
During WWII, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) contributed some 15 bomber squadrons to the fight against NAZI Germany. Many paid the ultimate price with some 9,980 Canadians killed in bombing raids against German cities between 1940 and 1945. Once the war had finished in 1945, these were for the most part disbanded as the RCAF reduced its strength. Some AVRO Lancasters were kept but these were for Maritime Reconnaissance/Patrol and/or Aerial Photography roles.
However, peace was not something that would last long. In 1949, largely due to the rising Soviet threat to the security of Europe, Canada joined NATO, and the RCAF established No. 1 Air Division RCAF consisting of four wings with three fighter squadrons each, based in France and West Germany. In 1950, the RCAF also became involved with the transport of troops and supplies to the Korean War; however, it did not provide RCAF combat units.
By the mid 1950s, things were not slowing down and the brutal suppression of the Hungarian Revolution in November 1956 convinced the Government of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent that Canada needed to be prepared to contribute more to deterring the USSR from further aggression. A key part of this would be the RCAF re-establishing a dedicated bomber capability.
Although the St. Laurent Liberal government would soon lose power in mid 1957, the incoming government of John Diefenbaker did not back away from the plan. In fact, as part of Prime Minister Diefenbaker’s efforts to deter the British entry into the European Common Market (including a proposal that 15% of Canadian spending on US imports instead be spent on imports from the United Kingdom), the RCAF were directed to open discussions with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and British aircraft manufacturers regarding the acquisition of British built heavy bombers.
The obvious candidates here were the new ‘V-bombers’ that were in the process of entering service with the RAF. By the end of the year, an agreement had been reached whereby AVRO Canada would license produce some 48 AVRO Vulcan B.1 bombers, with another 8 supplied directly by the British. These would be designated Avro Vulcan B.20 (for British supplied airframes) and Avro Canada Vulcan B.21 (for local production). Later on these were redesignated as CB-111A and CB-111B. Ironically the decision to produce the Vulcans would ultimately contribute to the ending of AVRO Canada’s own homegrown CF-105 Arrow interceptor as the company found its resources being stretched too far. The end would ultimately come about a year later when on 20 February 1959, a day that would become known as "Black Friday" in the Canadian aviation industry, the Arrow was cancelled. Prime Minister Diefenbaker claimed the decision was based on "a thorough examination" of threats and defensive measures, and the cost of defensive systems and that “Canada could only have either a shield or a fist…and that the fist had already been committed”.
This new “fist” was a powerful one too as part of the agreement with the British government had included the provision of British nuclear weapons (later a further agreement including US supplied nuclear weapons was also made) for the new Canadian Strike Force. Part of the British reasoning here was that by putting some of their nuclear capability in Canada, they helped deter any Soviet attempt to neutralise British capabilities in a first strike. Dispersal was the key here.
By late 1959 the first RCAF Vulcans were entering service (these being those British built versions). These would eventually serve with No.s 420, 424, 428 and 429 Squadrons. A key part of the plan for the employment of the RCAF Vulcans was for their employment in a “over the pole” strike. This would see the Vulcans carrying strike missions against soviet targets in the north of the country. While it might be possible for some aircraft to return to Canadas, generally it was planned that after delivering their nuclear payloads, any surviving aircraft would continue south to try to recover either in Northern Europe or even in places such as Turkey. Needless to say, Canadian crews didn’t rate their chances high wth many considering their role as a one-way mission.
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Top: An Avro Vulcan B.1(CAN) assigned to the Central Experimental and Proving Establishment based at RCAF Station Uplands (Ottawa). Its CEPE assignment is demonstrated by the red 'X' marking on the rudder.
This bomber was finished in RAF-style all-over white anti-flash paint. As a British-built Vulcan B.1(CAN) recently delivered the aircraft lacks some of the comms and EW antennae applied to later, Avro Canada-made Vulcan B.1A(CAN)s.
Bottom: An Avro Canada-built Vulcan B.1A(CAN) bomber of RCAF No.420 ('Snowy Owl') Squadron. These aircraft came from the Malton factory with additional EW kit which necessitated a revised tail cone. The RCAF chose to abandon RAF-style white finish for Canadian-made bombers in favour of a two-tone gloss grey. [1]
Note that Vulcan B.1A(CAN) has been equipped with an inflight refuelling probe above its nose radome. These probes would also be retrofitted to British-supplied Vulcan B.1(CAN) airframes - an IFR capability being consider essentially to the RCAF bombers' Over-the-Pole mission.
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[1] Tests had shown that overall white performed well over the Arctic icecap but very poorly over tundra where interception was most probable. Anticipating delay-fused 'special weapons', the RCAF concluded that gloss grey paint would provide sufficient anti-flash protection for the Vulcan airframe.
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Top: A de Havilland CT-162K Comet about to refuel an Avro Canada CB-111 Vulcan bomber. The CT-162K belongs to No. 448 Squadron, CAF, based at CFB Bagotville. The CT-162K designation was applied to MLU'd Comet 2s which had become dedicated tanker aircraft for the Vulcan fleet. [2] The CB-111 Vulcan is part way through its MLU - as evidenced by the fin-top RWR antennae.
A comparison can be made between the finishes of the tanker and bomber fleets. The former wore a semi-gloss scheme of medium green (501-301) and medium grey (501-302) over light aircraft grey (501-301). By contrast, the bombers wore a matte scheme of tundra green (503-304) and medium grey (501-302) over light aircraft grey (501-301). [3]
Bottom: An upgraded Avro Canada Vulcan B.1 (CAN) of No. 426 Squadron, CAF, while forward positioned at CFS Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island in March 1976. As part of their MLU, all Canadian Vulcans were refinished in a wrap-around scheme of the slightly reddish tundra-green (503-304) and medium grey (501-302).
As part of Exercise Arctic Lance, the 426 aircraft has had its grey overpainted with distemper paint - 'Washable White' (513-303) - by way of Winter camouflage. The distemper has temporarily blotted out both serials and squadron crests on the vertical tail as well as 'Thunderbird' motifs on either side the forward fuselage.
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[2] The post-Unification CAF designation CT-162 was a numerical portanteau of de Havilland's type number - 106 - and the '2' from 'Comet 2'. Conversion of the RCAF's 4 x Comet 2s to inflight tankers took place around the same time that Avro Canada was building Vulcan 1A(CAN)s with refuelling probes.
[3] The short-lived, 3-colour bomber camouflage was replace by a wrap-around scheme at the end of the RCAF Vulcans' mid-life upgrades.
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RCAF Vulcans would continue to provide a strike capability for the next two decades.
Eventually in the early 1980s they would be replaced by a new type. This was the Panavia Tornado XRS (Extra Range Strike) variant. This was a derivative of the Panavia Tornado IDS that the RCAF was in the process of acquiring alongside the Tornado ADV variant - the ADVs were designated as CF-180, whereas the IDS was designated the CF-181A and the XRS, the CF-181B. Canadair Ltd was the Canadian partner within Panavia Aircraft GmbH and had led the development of this variant. It basically combined the extended fuselage of the ADV variant with the avionics and attack systems of the IDS variant. It also had the cannons removed. The deletion of the cannons and stretch allowed for the addition of 25% more internal fuel. When combined with external ‘Hindenburger’ drop tanks, the XRS variant was able to achieve a range of 4275km. This was still less than the old AVRO Vulcan but the deficiency was made up through the use of aerial refuelling. Additional Boeing CC-137 had been acquired by the RCAF and were dedicated to supporting the Tornado XRS fleet (and to a lesser extent, the RCAFs other Tornado variants) in time of war.
In time of heightened alert, Tornado XRSs were deployed to northern air bases such as CFB Iqaluit on Baffin Island. If called upon to perform their ultimate mission, the jets would launch typically with a pair of WE.177 or B61 nuclear bombs and up to 4 external tanks. They would be refuelled in the air over the pole before continuing on to perform their strikes. As with the earlier Vulcans, the crews knew that it was likely that their missions would be one-way.
The Tornado XRS would continue to serve in this role until 1994. At this point, with the collapse of the USSR and the thawing of relations, the Canadian government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien felt that the nuclear mission was no longer relevant and thus renounced the use of such weapons. The Tornado XRS were converted to either pure conventional strike or reconnaissance.
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Top: An Avro Canada CD-110 drone for use as a decoy for Vulcan bomber flights. Based on the advanced but abandoned Avro Type 734 decoy project, the CD-110 was of simplified construction (made possible by reducing top speed to Mach 1.7). 'Drone' is something of a misnomer, however, as the CD-110 also carried a small nuclear warhead. [4]
In RCAF service, the CD-110s remained unpainted. However, after Unification, the CAF's CD-110s were painted in the same wrap-around camo scheme as their Vulcan 'parent' aircraft. Post-Unifications, the RCAF 'D' for Decoy serial prefix was also eliminated from CD-110s.
Bottom: A CAF Panavia CF-181B Tornado of 429 (Bison) Squadron based at CFB North Bay, ON. This rather scruffy-looking Tornado XRS is making a bombing run over the Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range in Saskatchewan. After deployment to CFS Pond Inlet - a Forward Operating Location on northern Baffin Island - this CF-181B is dropping a Joint Test Assembly (the JTA being a practice bomb variant of the US-controlled in-service B61 mod 5 'special weapon').
This CF-181B Tornado belongs to the commander of 429 Squadron - as witnessed by its distinctive 'B' scheme of 'Washable White' distemper paint. Reversed from the usual 'A' scheme, this application covered over both serials and national markings. Normally, this was the most effective Winter scheme ... but this northern-deployed bomber is now in need of a good scrub down and a little TLC.
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[4] That was the W31 fission warhead with a preset yield of 1 kiloton. This US warhead was chosen for commonality with the Canadian Army's MGR-1B Honest John battlefield rocket. When 1st SMM Battery in West Germany stood down in 1970, the CD-110s also returned their W31s to the US and conventional, 1,500 lb HE warheads were substituted.