Buccaneer

The Blackburn Buccaneer was a Royal Navy (RN) carrier-borne attack aircraft designed in the 1950s. Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft at Brough, it was later officially known as the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer when Blackburn became a part of the Hawker Siddeley group, but this name was rarely used. The Buccaneer was originally designed in response to the Soviet Union's massive Sverdlov-class cruiser construction programme. Instead of building a new fleet of their own, the Royal Navy would use the Buccaneer to attack these ships with relative impunity by approaching at low altitudes below the ship's radar horizon. The The Buccaneer entered RN service in 1962. The Buccaneer was finally purchased by the RAF, entering service in 1969.