No. 101 Squadron RAF
No. 101 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Vickers VC10 K3 and K4 from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. 101 Sqn previously operated the Avro Vulcan as part of the V Bomber force. The squadron received the Vulcan B1 in 1958, graduating to the B2 in 1968. The VC10 K2 was delivered to the RAF in 1983, when 101 Squadron was officially reformed. 101 Squadron's VC10s differ from those of 10 Squadron as the K2, K3, and K4 were all civil airliners acquired by the Ministry of Defence for conversion to AAR tankers. The VC10 K2, K3 and K4s began their lives with British Airways (delivered to BOAC,) Gulf Air and East African Airways. All were converted by British Aerospace and delivered between 1983 and 1993. Notable deployments of 101 Squadron include the Gulf War, Operations Northern & Southern Watch, Operation Allied Force (Kosovo), Operation Desert Fox, Afghanistan, and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. 101 Squadron VC10 Variants K2 - Gulf Air Standard VC10s (now retired)
K3 - Repossessed East African Airways Super VC10s
K4 - Of fourteen BA Super VC10s placed in storage, only five survived to be converted. The VC10 will remain in service with 101 and 10 Squadrons until around 2008, when the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft is due to start replacing them (most likely the C1s first.)
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