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61VULCAN OPERATIONSAir Marshal Sir John CurtissFor a biographical note, see page 17I am going to talk about BLACK BUCK operations, although it is notmy intention to go into the minute detail of the Vulcan attacks againstPort Stanley airport, as I think that you will have gained a very goodappreciation of the complexities of the in-flight refuelling required fromthis morning%u2019s excellent talk by Jeremy Price. I would also draw yourattention to Jeff Jefford%u2019s paper in Journal 20 which provided anoverview of the Vulcan%u2019s participation in the campaign.My aims are to set out why it was decided to mount these operations,what this involved and what was achieved. The objective was mostcertainly not, as has been suggested by some, merely to satisfy theRAF%u2019s desire to get in on the act. Quite plainly, we were already verymuch in on the act in any case. The greatest concerns of the commandteam at Northwood was the Task Force%u2019s vulnerability to air attack andthe possible attrition rate of the Sea Harriers, not only from enemyaction, but due to weather and the other hazards of operating in the SouthAtlantic in the middle of winter.The fact was that we had no more Sea Harriers beyond the twentyeight that were afloat and, although they had won their first contest withthe Argentineans Mirages, shooting down two without loss, thanks totheir superior weapon aiming system and the late-model Sidewindermissiles which we had obtained from our American friends.Nevertheless, it was considered that they might well need backing up,hence the conversion of No 1 Sqn%u2019s Harrier pilots to carrier operationsand the air defence role, and their deployment south to Ascension andthen, via the Atlantic Conveyor, to the Task Force where they embarkedin Hermes. The GR3s were not intended solely for land support; theywere also to act as reserves for air-to-air combat, although, in the endthey were not actually used for that purpose.The greatest threat to the two aircraft carriers was from the fewArgentinean Super Etendard aircraft armed with Exocet. As far as weknew they had five or six missiles at their disposal; we also knew thatthe French, who had sold the system to them, were in Argentina at thetime. We were never quite sure what part they played in helping,