Buccaneer aircraft in action, launching a co-ordinated attack with Sea Eagle anti-ship sea-skimming missiles, the moment when the leader of the first element (callsign Blue) achieves his firing solution and initiates the ripple launch of his formations missiles by breaking radio silence with the traditional 208 Squadron radio call of Blue,-Fire! Nightmare scenario. Dusk over an empty sea. With lights out and in radio silence, three Buccaneers, each armed with 4 Sea-Eagle missiles, prepare to attack a Surface Action Group still beyond radar range. 150 miles away, three more Buccaneers are approaching the same target in a pincer attack timed to hit the target at exactly the same time. The first warning that the target will receive of the attack is when all 24 missile radar seekers switch on at close range for the final phase of the attack. Whilst the Buccaneers escape unseen, the defenses will be swamped with their worst nightmare - two volleys of missiles approaching without warning, .........
Built to fly low and fast over very long distances, the Buccaneer reigned supreme during the Cold War years both as a carrier-borne and land-based strike aircraft. For 30 years, first with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm then with the Royal Air Force and the South African Air Force, the Buccaneers achievements in the low-level strike role approached the proportions of legend. Roy Boots classic design is unbeatable in many respects even by the latest and most potent fighters and this much-loved aircraft is still immensely popular. It enjoys a unique reputation as a tough and reliable shipyard foundry-built aircraft and is sorely missed by those who flew it or worked on it and regarded it as irreplaceable. Pressed into service at short notice during the Gulf War, the Buccaneer and its aircrews finally proved in the most spectacular manner what many had been saying for years, - that the Buccaneer was a truly outstanding machine that could only be replaced by another Buccaneer.
Item Code : MR0056
Buccaneer Thunder by Michael Rondot. - Editions Available
