Cold War

Aircraft profiles from the cold war era of the Royal Air Force.

27 Aircraft Profiles
Featured Cold War Aircraft

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

Lockheed (later Lockheed Martin)

Transport & Support Aircraft

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules gave the RAF decades of tactical airlift, from Cold War transport duties to later operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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Entered service December 1967
Retired 30 June 2023
Max speed 368 mph (592 km/h)
Ceiling 33,000 ft (10,058 m)
Range 2,050 mi (3,299 km)

Cold War · 27 aircraft

Cold War

Armstrong Whitworth Argosy

Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft
1961–1978
Cold War

Avro Lincoln

A. V. Roe and Company (Avro)
Bomber Aircraft 1945–1963
Cold War

Avro Shackleton

A. V. Roe and Company
Maritime Aircraft 1951–1991
Cold War

Avro Vulcan

A. V. Roe and Company
Bomber Aircraft 1956–1984
Cold War

BAC TSR2

British Aircraft Corporation
Reconnaissance & Special Duties N/A–1965
Modern RAF

BAE Hawk

British Aerospace / BAE Systems
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 1976
Cold War

Blackburn Buccaneer

Blackburn Aircraft Ltd (later Hawker Siddeley)
Fighter Aircraft 1962–1994
Second World War

de Havilland Mosquito

de Havilland
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 1941–1963
Cold War

de Havilland Vampire

de Havilland Aircraft Company; English Electric
Fighter Aircraft 1946–1966
Second World War

Douglas Dakota

Douglas Aircraft Company
Transport & Support Aircraft 1942–1970
Cold War

English Electric Canberra

English Electric
Bomber Aircraft 1951–2006
Cold War

English Electric Lightning

English Electric (later British Aircraft Corporation)
Fighter Aircraft 1960–1988
Cold War

Gloster Javelin

Gloster Aircraft Company
Fighter Aircraft 1956–1968
Cold War

Gloster Meteor

Gloster Aircraft Company
Fighter Aircraft 1944–1982
Cold War

Handley Page Victor

Handley Page Limited
Bomber Aircraft 1958–1993
Cold War

Hawker Hunter

Hawker Aircraft Ltd
Fighter Aircraft 1954–1994
Cold War

Hawker Siddeley Harrier

Hawker Siddeley
Fighter Aircraft 1969–2010
Cold War

Hawker Siddeley Nimrod

Hawker Siddeley
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 1969–2010
Second World War

Hawker Tempest

Hawker Aircraft
Fighter Aircraft 1944–1953
Cold War

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

Lockheed (later Lockheed Martin)
Transport & Support Aircraft 1967–2023
Cold War

McDonnell Douglas Phantom

McDonnell Douglas
Fighter Aircraft 1968–1992
Cold War

Panavia Tornado

Panavia Aircraft GmbH (BAC / MBB / Aeritalia consortium)
Fighter Aircraft 1979–2019
Cold War

SEPECAT Jaguar

SEPECAT (Breguet / British Aircraft Corporation)
Fighter Aircraft 1973–2007
Second World War

Short Sunderland

Short Brothers
Maritime Aircraft 1938–1959
Second World War

Supermarine Spitfire

Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd
Fighter Aircraft 1938–1954
Cold War

Vickers Valiant

Vickers-Armstrongs
Bomber Aircraft 1955–1965
Cold War

Vickers VC10

Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd
Transport & Support Aircraft 1966–2013