Direct proof of use
The Royal Air Force Museum directly documents Buccaneer S2B use in the 1990 Gulf War, stating that twelve Buccaneers deployed at short notice to Operation Granby to designate targets for RAF Tornados and Jaguars. The museum also identifies this deployment as the Buccaneer's first combat use.
RAF Air Power Review material gives operational detail for that use. Its Operation Granby article describes Buccaneers carrying Pave Spike pods for laser-guided bomb attacks and identifies a successful Buccaneer and Tornado cooperative strike on 2 February 1991 against a highway bridge over the Euphrates.
Sources: Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S2B - RAF Museum, Operation Granby and the Dawn of Precision in the Royal Air Force
Timeline
The Buccaneers arrived after the coalition air campaign had begun. A declassified RAF mission-report article notes that the HSA Buccaneer S2 deployed to the Gulf region toward the end of the 16 January to 23 February 1991 reporting period, primarily to provide laser-designation services for Tornado GR1 aircraft through the podded Pave Spike system.
On 2 February 1991, Buccaneer-supported precision attacks were underway. The RAF Air Power Review article identifies that date as the first successful Buccaneer and Tornado cooperative strike, then describes subsequent work against bridges, runway intersections, and hardened aircraft shelters.
Sources: RAF Selected Tornado and Jaguar Mission Reports, Operation Granby and the Dawn of Precision in the Royal Air Force
Operational role
In Gulf War service the Buccaneer S2B's central role was targeting support rather than mass strike delivery. The RAF Museum says the aircraft had a secondary task of carrying laser-designator equipment for precision attacks, and that the deployed Gulf detachment used that capability for Tornado and Jaguar targets.
The RAF Air Power Review account describes the Pave Spike pods as old and weather-limited, but also credits the Buccaneer detachment with enabling successful precision attacks after RAF Tornado tactics moved away from early low-level attacks. The same article's image caption places a 208 Squadron Buccaneer at Muharraq, Bahrain, carrying a Paveway laser-guided bomb and a Pave Spike targeting pod.
The declassified mission-report article adds that the Buccaneers later conducted some attack sorties of their own, while keeping the scale in perspective: it gives an approximate total of 200 Buccaneer sorties, fewer than the Tornado GR1 and Jaguar GR1 totals in the same campaign.
Sources: Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S2B - RAF Museum, Operation Granby and the Dawn of Precision in the Royal Air Force, RAF Selected Tornado and Jaguar Mission Reports
Variant context
The conflict-use claim concerns RAF Buccaneer S2B aircraft, the Spey-powered RAF strike variant. BAE Systems Heritage describes the RAF S2B branch as new-build Buccaneers with increased all-up weight, a larger weapons bay, increased fuel capacity, a 16,000 lb weapon load, and laser-designation equipment for Paveway laser-guided bombs in RAF service.
The same BAE Systems Heritage account states that Buccaneers served with distinction in the First Gulf War in 1991 and remained in RAF service until 1994.
Sources: Blackburn Buccaneer - BAE Systems Heritage
