How long did it take to convert the first Vulcan into a tanker aircraft?

In 1982, during the Falklands War, the Vulcan found one last role. The decision to convert six aircraft into tankers was taken on 4 May 1982.

The conversion involved fitting the aircraft with a hose-and-drogue unit to transfer fuel to other aircraft, and an additional cylindrical tank was added in the bomb bay. With it, fuel capacity rose to almost 100,000 lb (45,000 kg). The new version was designated the K.2.

The work was done at breakneck speed: just 50 days after the order, the first Vulcan tanker, XH561, was delivered at RAF Waddington. The Vulcan K.2s were operated by 50 Squadron, alongside three Vulcan B.2s, in support of the United Kingdom's air defence activities.

With the K.2, the aircraft, which had been born as a high-altitude nuclear bomber, ended its career filling the tanks of other aircraft. 50 Squadron operated the B.2 from 1966 and the K.2 from 1982 to 1984, the year the RAF finally retired the type. After retirement, one of the B.2s, XH558, was restored to fly air displays as a civilian aircraft.

The aircraft originated from the British Ministry of Supply's B.35/46 specification. The first prototype flew on 30 August 1952, and the RAF received its first Vulcan B.1 in September 1956. Deliveries of the much-improved Vulcan B.2 began in 1960, and the last example reached the RAF in January 1965. In the mid-1960s, after the Skybolt missile was cancelled in November 1962, the RAF began using it with low-level tactics.