The Vulcan, Soviet Air Defence, and the Cold War examines Vulcan B2 operations in nuclear war conditions, describes the effectiveness of Soviet air defences, and the operation of manned bombers in nuclear war and their probability of survival. Included is history of nuclear weapon development and the politics and debate in the UK over manned bombers versus ballistic missile during 1962-1972. The Vulcan, Soviet Air Defence, and the Cold War details how the Vulcan B2 would have been flown operationally, with the use of the Navigation and Bombing Systems (NBS), against the Soviet air defences long enough to successfully deliver their nuclear payload in the event of the four-minute warning being given heralding impending strikes against the UK by Soviet ICBMs. Under such conditions the V-bomber force would have been required to scramble from their dispersal bases across the UK, cross the North Sea and penetrate the Soviet air defence system of radars, fighters, guns and surface to air missiles. The author brings extensive personal experience with the V-bomber force and electronic warfare to this work and challenges the assumption of many historians that the manned bomber would have been unable to survive such conditions. AUTHOR: Julian Grenfell has 4,500 hours flying Royal Air Force (RAF) Vulcan B2s, and held several Electronic Warfare (EW) appointments in the RAF. Following his time in the RAF, Julian spent 35 years in the defence industry as an aero systems engineer, mathematician, and scientist, and worked for several major UK defence companies, finally running his own EW consultancy company. 85 b/w photos, 30 colour illustrations, 15 colour photos, 21 colour profiles, 15 tables, 5 b/w maps, 1 colour map
