During the Fifties and Sixties, tensions between the Soviet Union and the US could not have been higher, as the pair tussled for ultimate supremacy both on the ground and in space. However, Ministry of Defence papers show how the RAF played a vital role in preventing the Soviets from considering launching a nuclear attack. Dated between 1986 and 1990, the documents discuss a top secret “V-force” comprised of strategic nuclear bombers that could reach the USSR in minutes, stealthily avoiding detection and anti-air weapons by flying low.
The papers detail: “In 1957 the V-force provided the UK with the ability to deliver nuclear strikes deep into the Soviet Union.
“A Canberra (bomber jet) force with US warheads allowed for sub-strategic NATO options.
“The demise of the Vulcan bomber and Canberra led to the transfer of this sub-strategic role to the F4 Phantoms in RAFG and Buccaneers in UK and RAFG.”
When it became clear that the Soviet Union’s surface-to-air missiles, like the S-75 Dvina, could bring down high-flying aircraft, the V bomber force was key for practising low-level attack methods.
The RAF helped save the world (Image: GETTY)
The Cold War raised tentions (Image: GETTY)
In 1957 the V-force provided the UK with the ability to deliver nuclear strikes deep into the Soviet Union
They were capable of dropping both nuclear and conventional weapons, supported by a complex analogue computer system known as the Navigation and Bombing System that allowed accurate bombing even over very long ranges.
Eventually, this technology was rolled out to other NATO states.
The papers explained: “In 1969, Polaris assumed the V-force responsibility.
“Subsequently, three Phantoms (US Navy fighters) squadrons handed over to four Jaguar (French attack aircraft) squadrons.
“The Buccaneers continued in the UK and in RAFG.
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RAF bombers were used for missions (Image: WIKI)
“Eventually, Jaguars and Buccaneers handed over to seven Tornado squadrons and those Buccaneers in UK assigned to Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SAUCER) handed over to two Tornado squadrons and 16 other aircraft of the TWCU at Honington.”
The Vulcan is also well-remembered for its conventional Black Buck bombing raids during the 1982 Falklands War, to support the change in mission, a tanker aircraft version was also made.
However, the use of all V bombers as weapons platforms, nuclear or conventional, ended after the Falklands.
The Cold War did not though as tensions continued for another nine years until the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1991, after a change in Soviet mindset was implemented under Mikhail Gorbachev.
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Another RAF v-bomber (Image: WIKI)
The Berlin Wall fell in 1991 (Image: GETTY)
However, the eighth and last leader revealed in 2006 his real thoughts on what caused the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
He said: “The nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, even more than my launch of Perestroika, was perhaps the real cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union five years later.”
The Chernobyl disaster was a devastating nuclear accident that occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, on April 25, 1986.
It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history and is one of only two nuclear energy disasters rated at seven – the maximum severity – on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the other being the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan.
WW3 flashpoints (Image: GETTY)
Initially, after the Chernobyl disaster, Mr Gorbachev and the Communist Party downplayed the incident both domestically and on the world stage, calling it a minor event that “requires no special measures to protect the population”.
Moscow’s handling of the disaster went on to expose the reality of human error within the Soviet system and introduced doubt and questions of competence directed at the Kremlin not seen since before World War 2.
Mr Gorbachev was unable to recover and as questions mounted so did the pressure, until eventually the regime collapsed and the Berlin Wall coming down will forever be seen as the moment symbolising the Soviet Union’s demise.
However, these comments suggest that Chernobyl was the real turning point in Soviet history and the disaster arguably made the wall coming down an inevitability.