Black Buck Four

Black Buck Four was the fourth of the Black Buck missions, intended to be carried out by an RAF Vulcan bomber, supported by Victor tankers during the Falklands War.

Black Buck Four was to have taken place on May 28th, 1982, but was aborted 5 hours after the Vulcan had taken off, when the hose-and-drogue refuelling equipment on one of the Victor tankers failed. This mission was the first in which the Vulcan was equipped with four AGM-45A Shrike missiles. These had been hastily fitted to the aircraft using improvised underwing pylons. The missiles were intended to be used to attack Argentine anti-aircraft radars on the Falkland Islands. Shrike missiles were subsequently used in Black Buck Five and Black Buck Six.