Did the R.A.F. bomb NY in the 60's, details please?

Question

It was an excercise using electronic techniques. The US did not believe them so they repeated it and I think showed their position.

Answer 1

Yes, July 17th 1961. It was part of an Anglo-American exercise held every year since 1955 (and still held today). During the exercise the US and UK decided to test the effectiveness of the new British bomber the Avro Vulcan.
The Vulcan was to be the West’s first response in case of nuclear attack from then (then) USSR. The brief stated that during the month of July at an undisclosed time and date the RAF would attempt to fly over US airspace on a simulated bombing run of an undisclosed US city. On the 17th July 1961 4 Vulcan’s left RAF Fairford, at approximately 3pm that day they entered American airspace, flying high above the maximum altitude of defending US fighters. Three of the aircraft used electronic equipment to jam ground based and airborne radar directed at them. The fourth arrived unchallenged and unforeseen at approximately 3.47pm over New York city and dropped an “electronic” 21,000Ib nuclear payload.
It should be noted also that 20 years later the Vulcan’s flew what to this day remains the longest range air-attack in history when they bombed the airfield in Stanley in the Falkland islands a near 9000 mile trip.
I should also say that twice now the US has tried to copy the UK “bombing” of New York, in 1995 3 F-117 Nighthawk’s tried a run over the southern UK, all were intercepted and “Shot Down” in 2002 a B1 Stealth bomber tried to interdict UK airspace with a simulated run at Manchester the RAF picked the bomber up while still over the North Sea and using ground based missile “Shot” the aircraft down. It should be said that the UK and US remain the only countries in the world that have the capabilities to detect the B! and F-117’s while there in “Stealth” mode. It’s classified technology but is something to do with mobile phone masts and TETRA masts.

Answer 2

I just saw a documentary on PBS this week about the bombings of German cities in WWII. The British and Americans had totally different attitudes about how, when and what to bomb, until toward the end. The British, who had been through the Blitz, when German planes destroyed their cities, London, Liverpool, etc wanted to affect German morale with night time bombings of the cities. German bombers had apparently bombed British cities at night, too. The Americans wanted to go for strategic targets, factories, railroads, rail terminals where troops would be,air fields and military bases, oil facilities, ports, etc. The deliberate (repeat, deliberate) bombing of civilian areas was not supposed to happen with American bombers. However, many factories, railroads, etc. were right by civilian houses, and even hospitals and schools, so of course, many US bombs hit civilians as well. Until very close to the end of the war, that is how the Americans felt, but as the war was drawing to a close (Much the same philosophy which led to using the Atomic bombs on Japan), it was an all out attempt to get the Germans to surrender and so the cities, like Berlin, Dresden and others were destroyed by both British and American bombers. My Dad was in the military and I was in Germany for a time in the early 60's. Where I lived, there were still places that had damage from bombings, although most were rebuilt or repaired. I was confused it was us, not the Russians (I was 8 and knew little about the history of the war, and it was the Cold War) who bombed them. It bothered me, but when I learned how the British and other cities were bombed, it was the same thing on both sides. In the PBS show, something was said that one of the leaders said "The most immoral thing the Allies could do was lose the war." I don't know if that is true or not, but it would have been the thinking at the time. Remember, Hitler would not surrender, he committed suicide and left his country to surrender to the Allies without him.

Answer 3

The RAF, [Royal Air Force] did not bomb NY in the 1960s or at any other time. Not even in a nightmare.

Military exercises involving NATO held in the USA are usually conducted a long way from major cities.

Desert Storm, for example, was probably practised somewhere in an American desert. Same thing pre-D-Day, American troops carried out exercises on the UK coast getting used to climbing cliffs and being the sound of gunfire etc.

Answer 4

I read a novel, called "Penetrators" by Hank Searls. The plot is that some chaps at Bomber Command RAF are angry because at the pronging of the US, the UK is going to scratch all Vulcan bombers as obsolete. So a few of them gather and devise a plan to show the Yanks how obsolete they are. They fly towards the US using flight patterns of commercial airlines and once they penetrate US airspace they make mock bombing runs at the main cities. I think they get away with it
as the Americans prefer to shut the whole thing as never happened. They get earlier retirement though. This was fiction and I ignore if its was based upon facts.

Answer 5

I did hear something about this in the 1964 1969 period
The story was that the RAF were landing in USA for an exercise. US offered them a pass through (or what ever it was called) the RAF said they did not need one because they could get through without being detected and the challenge was on. They got through much to the displeasure of the US authorities. I suppose they "Bombed NY" in an excercise of bombing without bombs. I think that when the dust settled knowing the the Yanks they sorted that out but I think it reinforced the lesson that the bomber will always get through. although no Raf plane had that range for a return flight in flight fuelling was in an experimental stage so ???

Answer 6

The only people who bombed NYC in the 60s were the Weather Underground. Geniuses blew themselves up. Whoops!

Answer 7

Yes it was an exercise...6 Vulcan bombers were involved...three travelled from North and the others from the South...The V Bomber squadrons specialised in low level attack and at least one got through without detection...They were tasked in wartime to deliver Nuclear weapons, so had we been at war with America then Bye Bye NY

Answer 8

the Royal Air Force has never bombed NY

Answer 9

Wheres the link to this?

Answer 10

Here`s the complete story for the non-believers....
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1778198,00.html