The Vickers Valiant riginally failed to meet the V bomber requirement, but entered service first anyway in 1955 with 138 Squadron. A more conventional design than Vulcan or Victor it lacked the speed or range of the others. The Valiant was the platform from which the UK nuclear tests were carried out in Australia and the Pacific during the 1950s - dropping atomic and hydrogen bombs.

The Valiant was produced in the following variants:

• B Mk 1 - the basic bomber
• B(PR) Mk.1 - reconnaissance added to its bombing role
• (PR)K Mk.1 - air-to-air tanker, plus bombing and reconnaissance capability
• B(K) Mk.1 - air-to-air tanker and bomber
• B Mk 2 - prototype low-level bomber which never entered productoin

Valiants were used as bombers operationally for one time only - during the Suez crisis of Oct 1956 when they dropped conventional HE bombs on targets in Egypt.

The Valiant retired in January 1965 when the airframes could not accept the stresses of low level flight.