One of two bombers designed around Specification B.35/46, the Handley Page H.P.80 later named the Victor was the last of the V-bombers to enter service with the Royal Air Force. The Avro Vulcan, to the same requirements, had become operational in mid-1956. Technically highly advanced for its time, the prototype WB771 powered by Armstrong Siddeley Sapphires 100 series engines (first flown 24th December 1952) was designed to operate fast and high, above virtually all known defences. As it turned out, when the aircraft did finally enter service in 1957, it had been overtaken by fighters and missiles some capable of interception at its designed operating altitudes.

A crescent-shaped wing was chosen to allow the highest possible cruise Mach number. Four Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire 200-series turbojets, buried in the sharply swept root, powered the Victor B.Mk 1. Construction was primarily of light-alloy double-skin sandwich with either corrugated or honeycomb filling. It was the Victor B.Mk 1 which was first offered to the RAF, but in the light of its reduced effectiveness the service later demanded better protection. Eventually 50 of the B Mk 1 were produced however increased protection resulted in the conversion of 24 from the second production batch into the Victor B.Mk 1A, were operated; they were fitted with more sophisticated electronic countermeasures (ECM) housed in the rear fuselage and were generally better equipped.

In 1964 Handley Page was contracted to convert 10 of the remaining Victor B.Mk 1 and 14 B.Mk lAs into probe-and-drogue flight-refuelling tankers for the RAF. This conversion consisted of fitting a Flight Refueling Mk 20B pod under each wing to replenish high-speed tactical aircraft and fighters. A Flight Refueling Mk 17 hose drum unit in the rear of the bomb bay supplied bombers and transport aircraft. To raise capacity, two extra fuel tanks were fitted in the remainder of the bomb bay these were a permanent fit and the aircraft could not be returned to its previous bombing role. With the demise of the Valiant tankers in January 1965 six B Mk 1A aircraft were flown to HP Radlett for a quick conversion programme to two point tankers this conversion proceeding along side the main contract for 24., designated Victor BK.Mk 1A and carried only the underwing refuelling points, and these aircraft entered service with No. 55 Sqn at RAF Honington in April 1965 before the Squadron moved to RAF Marham in May 1965 these aircraft retained their bombing role facility. In 18 months of trials the six Victor BK.Mk 1A's transferred 6,718,700 lb of fuel in 10,646 real and practice refuelling contacts and participated in nearly 40 overseas exercises. Two BAC Lightning fighters could be supplied simultaneously at the rate of 150 Imp gallons per minute. Nos 57 and 214 Sqns were equipped with three-point Victor K.Mk1 and the KMk1A's from February 1966 and No 55 Sqn received its first improved models in the spring of 1967.

By 1954 design was in hand on the Victor Mark 2, and the first Victor B.Mk 2 flew on 20th February 1959. This larger version was much heavier and more powerful, the engines being 17,000 lb Rolls-Royce Conway Mk 103 turbofans. Changes compared with the Mk 1 included greater span, larger air inlets, a dorsal fillet forward of the fin and a retractable scoop on each fuselage side to supply two turbo-alternators for the totally new electrical system. A Turboméca Artouste gas turbine in the starboard wing root was the  APU (auxiliary power unit) which could  supply electrical power in emergency and on the ground as well as air for starting the main engines. A retro fit programme at HP Radlett lead to the fitting of the Conway 201 engines , the Blue Steel system and for the B(SR)2 aircraft the reconnaissance package along with many other improvements Armament was the Hawker Siddeley Blue Steel stand-off bomb (air-to-surface missile), which became operational in February 1964 with No. 139 Sqn at Wittering. Two years earlier this squadron had been also the first unit to receive the updated Victor. Although considerably improved, the Victor B.Mk 2 was no less vulnerable at height, and the aircraft's role was changed to include low-level attack, and only 34 were built, 22 being cancelled.

The Victor B(SR).Mk 2, a strategic reconnaissance version of the Victor B.Mk 2, had the primary role of high-altitude maritime reconnaissance. A single aircraft could radar-map the entire Mediterranean in one seven-hour sortie, and four could map the North Atlantic in six hours, photoflash bombs permitting night operations. A number of Victor B.Mk 2s were converted to the strategic reconnaissance role, and 24 Victor K.Mk 2 tanker conversions of the B.Mk 2 and the B(SR)2 continued to play an important role in the RAF, serving with Nos 55 and 57 Squadrons and No. 232 OCU. The Victor K.Mk 2 is a complete rebuild, by British Aerospace at Woodford, with three hose-reels and reduced wing span lasting inservice from May 1974 with 232 OCU until  15^th October 1993 when 55 Squadron disbanded and the surviving aircraft were withdrawn from service and disposed of.