raf air power
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
1/23
The Utility of Air Power: the Royal Air Forces Contribution to
the Defence and Security of the United Kingdom
INTRODUCTION
The term air power encapsulates the way in which the behaviour of
individuals, groups and states, or the course of events, can be influenced as a
result of the military use of air and space. The inherent characteristics of air
power mean that it is readily employable at any level or scale, from tactical
actions, such as the immediate, precision firepower support provided to army
patrols in Afghanistan by ground-attack aircraft, through to major airoperations such as the Berlin airlift, which shaped the entire strategic calculus
in Europe for a generation. These examples also demonstrate that while air
power is exceptionally good at delivering precise and proportionate military
force, its flexibility and speed of response mean that in some circumstances, it
can be equally effective in making political points and providing policy options
without recourse to weaponry or the physical destruction of targets: it can
provide what Joseph Nye has described as smart power, rather than just
hard power.1 Additionally, while air power is usually most effective when
employed in conjunction with land and naval forces as part of a joint
campaign, it has the unique ability to act alone and with discretion over the
horizon, delivering force or providing influence where the potentially costly
commitment of forces on the ground is either undesirable or impractical: a
recent example is the air policing of no-fly zones over Iraq, which was
conducted for the eleven years between 1992 and 2003 without a single
casualty.
British air power is primarily delivered by the Royal Air Force (RAF),
complemented by the small, organic elements within the Royal Navy and the
British Army2 which provide niche capabilities to their own services. The RAF
was originally formed in 1918 after an independently commissioned report
acknowledged that the provision of air power through separate Army and
1 Joseph Nye, http://csis.org/program/smart-power-initiative, last accessed 4 January 2010.2 The Fleet Air Arm and the Army Air Corps respectively.
1
http://csis.org/program/smart-power-initiativehttp://csis.org/program/smart-power-initiative -
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
2/23
Navy elements had been inefficient and wasteful;3 instead, a single, dedicated
organisation was necessary to coordinate and deliver air power properly and
effectively. As a result of this far-sighted decision, the RAF enjoys a proud
heritage and ethos as the worlds longest established independent air force,
with an unparalleled record of experience and success in every sort of military
operation around the globe, ranging from the Battle of Britain in 1940, which
ensured the survival of the nation and demonstrably altered the course of
history, through to the twenty years of continuous air operations over Iraq
which finally ended last year.
This chapter will explain the four generic capability areas that air power
contributes to the defence and security of the United Kingdom before outlining
the utility of air power in actual, operational practice, both at home and
overseas, and including current activities in Afghanistan. It will conclude by
considering some of the challenges and issues currently facing British air and
space power, and consider its future beyond Afghanistan.
AIR POWER CAPABILITIES
The RAF currently comprises some 39,400 uniformed men and women
operating 1,100 aircraft from a dozen main operating bases within the United
Kingdom and at a number of airfields overseas.4 It provides four essential
capabilities in support of the United Kingdoms defence mission. These are:
Control of the Air; Air Mobility and Lift; Intelligence and Situational Awareness;
and Attack.5
3 The Smuts Report, published on 17 August 1917..4 Including Gibraltar, Ascension Island, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands and operationaldeployment bases in the Middle East and Afghanistan.5
Full details of these roles are contained inAP3000 Fourth Edition: British Air and SpaceDoctrine, (London: Air Stafff, MOD), 2009, or available online athttp://www.airpowerstudies.co.uk/ap3000.htm
2
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
3/23
Control of the Air
Securing control of the air is the RAFs paramount duty: most
importantly, in defence of the United Kingdom itself, but also on expeditionary
operations, where control of the air guarantees the freedom of manoeuvre
and action of friendly air, land and naval forces, while severely curtailing the
activities and options open to adversaries. Control of the air is a fundamental
prerequisite for any putative military endeavour in the twenty-first century,
enabling all other activities; without sufficient control of the air, it would be
impossible to deploy a fighting force in vulnerable transport ships and aircraft
to a crisis zone in the first place, let alone move it freely around a theatre of
operations after arrival. The fundamental importance of control of the air is
recognised and understood by the enemies of the West, who contest it with
every means at their disposal: this may result in air battles between opposing
fighter (combat air) aircraft, for example in the early stages of the Gulf War in
1991, or between aircraft and enemy ground-based missiles and anti-aircraft
guns.
Because of its investment in first-class training and capable equipment,
the RAF has been successful in ensuring that British forces have not suffered
any casualties from enemy air attack since the Falklands War in 1982, where
the images of Sir Galahad burning at Bluff Cove provide the starkest possible
illustration of the consequences of a loss of air control.6 However, since the
Falklands War and despite perceptions of easy victories - the RAF has had
to fight hard for control of the air in all of its recent campaigns: in the Gulf War
in 1991, against Iraqi Air Force aircraft and a dense network of missile and
gun defences; against the effective Serbian air defence system during the
Kosovo War in 1999, when despite NATOs superiority in the air, some 230
missiles were fired at alliance aircraft; and again, against the Iraqi air defence
system as recently as 2003, when the Baghdad missile engagement zone
remained as an active threat to coalition aircraft until the final fall of Saddam
Husseins regime. These examples all demonstrate that control of the air can
6 On 8 June 1982 at Bluff Cove, Argentinean Skyhawkfighters attacked the Royal FleetAuxiliaries Sir Tristram and Sir Galahad, killing 56 personnel and wounding another 150.
3
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
4/23
never be assumed or taken for granted and that without it, the provision of
the broad range of other air power capabilities that are essential to the
success of military operations is likely to be compromised. This is why
Eurofighter Typhoon is necessary to provide a competitive, multi-role
capability to insure against future contingencies, not least in deterring
potential adversaries in a global environment where highly capable, state-of-
the-art, fifth-generation Russian and Chinese fighter aircraft, and equally
sophisticated surface-to-air missiles, are freely available and widely exported,
often to unstable or problematic states.7
Furthermore, in all of these cases, some of the niche capabilities that
have been developed primarily for use in current counter-insurgency
operations would have been of limited use; for example, in the Balkans, many
of the uninhabited air vehicles (UAVs) that are proving to be so useful in
Afghanistan were lost to either poor weather or enemy action.8 This means
that a balanced investment in a capability-mix of air platforms manned and
unmanned aircraft, combat air (or fast jet) aircraft and helicopters and
transports - is essential, if the United Kingdom is to retain the ability to
conduct future military interventions beyond the level of the most limited
stabilisation operations or counter-insurgencies in benign air environments.
Even when adversaries lack a conventional air force, they will still
contest control of the air; an RAF Hercules transport aircraft was downed by
ground-fire in Iraq in 2005, and RAF helicopters in Afghanistan are often
engaged by insurgents with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.
Additionally, aircraft have been attacked on the ground by rockets and mortar
fire, and this is why the specialist force protection provided by the RAF
Regiment, familiar with air operations and flight profiles, is necessary to
secure operating bases and landing areas. The advent and wide availability
of small, man-portable anti-aircraft missiles often provided to insurgent
proxies by state-sponsors such as Iran and Syria - exacerbates this threat and
7 For example, Venezuala has recently ordered Sukhoi Su-35 fighters.8
For example, as many as 70 of the Armys fleet of 198 Phoenix UAVs were lost to hostileaction, poor weather or technical failure during operations in the Balkans and Middle Eastbefore their withdrawal from service last year.
4
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
5/23
demands continuing investment in suitable defensive aids and counter-
measures, particularly for slower (and inevitably more vulnerable) transport
aircraft and helicopters. The acquisition ofStingerman-portable missiles by
the Taliban during the Soviet incursion into Afghanistan in the early 1980s
marked a sudden step-change in capability which the Soviet Air Force could
not counter; this meant that it was no longer able to support land forces
effectively, and was one of the most significant factors informing the Kremlins
final political decision to abandon the campaign and withdraw. This provides
a further, salutary lesson about the need to invest in control of the air, and the
consequences of failing to do so.
Air Lift
Air power invariably provides the only way for the United Kingdom to
intervene in a crisis situation quickly enough to make an immediate difference,
either to restore order, to provide security, or to deliver critical aid supplies.
Strategic transports, such as the RAFs C-17s and Tristars, currently provide
the United Kingdom with global reach, and these will be supplemented by the
EuropeanA400Maircraft in the future.9
Once in a war zone or at the site of a natural disaster, roads may be
non-existent or unusable, either because they have been washed away, or
are mined or booby-trapped with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs);
consequently, tactical air lift often provides the only practical means of
movement in difficult terrain. The RAFs Hercules aircraft and its support
helicopter fleet (Chinookand Puma helicopters) are the lynch-pins of tactical
mobility, moving people, soldiers, equipment, supplies and humanitarian aid
around theatres of operation, and permitting air power to act as a force
multiplier, by enabling relatively small forces to maintain a presence over wide
areas. The closely integrated air-land operations conducted by RAF aircraft
9In 2007, the RAF moved 211 185 passengers equivalent to the entire population of a townthe size of Derby - to and from Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, a staggering 45 million kg of
freight was transported this is the equivalent of moving Transport for Londons entire fleet of8,000 double-decker buses to a hostile war zone.
5
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
6/23
and small units of Special Forces throughout the broad reaches of the Iraqi
Western Desert in 2003 provide a classic example of the way in which air
power can be used in conjunction with light and mobile land forces to
dominate huge tracts of territory economically and effectively.
Intelligence and Situational Awareness
In crisis situations and conflicts, high quality and current (real-time)
information is required to support effective decision-making at every level, in
both the political and military arenas. Air and space surveillance may be used
to develop an understanding of events in a given area without necessarily
having to risk a presence on the ground, providing situational awareness in
countless ways, from satellite pictures of suspected nuclear facilities or the
mapping of poppy fields right down to the high-resolution video provided by
weapon-aiming sensors on RAF combat air aircraft such as Typhoon,
Tornado and Harrier. These can now be data-linked directly to soldiers on the
ground through lap-top terminals, so commanders have access to a literally
birds-eye view of the action as it unfolds. Communication signals from
mobile phones and radios may be tracked by specialist signals intelligence
aircraft, such as RAF Nimrods, and suspicious activity monitored in the same
sort of way and with the same sort of picture quality - as the cameras used
by police helicopters to produce the type of imagery familiar on news reports.
In irregular warfare, insurgents will seek to merge with and fight
amongst the civilian population, so understanding the situation and confirming
the legitimacy of targets is arguably even more important than in conventional
force-on-force wars, where armies fight other armies that are relatively easy
to find and identify. Consequently, demand for enhanced situational
awareness has continued to increase through the recent campaign in Iraq and
into current operations in Afghanistan, and the thirst for the quality of
information that can only be provided by air and space assets is only likely to
increase in the future. The RAF has responded by balancing its force
structure in favour of surveillance capabilities; these now include the Reaperunmanned aircraft, which can loiter for up to twelve hours over areas of
6
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
7/23
interest to provide persistent, high-quality, imagery, and Sentinel, an Airborne
Stand Off Radar (ASTOR) system mounted in a business jet, providing a
wide-area search capability that can be used to cue other assets, with
narrower field-of-view sensors, on to points of interest: the analogy is
searchlight to spotlight. The reach and broad coverage provided by
equipment such as ASTOR is particularly useful in permitting air power to
dominate the ungoverned spaces that would otherwise provide a safe haven
for insurgents without a massive uplift in land forces and the attendant
financial and human cost that this would inevitably entail.
Attack
The firepower available with current technology means that aircraft,
including unmanned systems and attack helicopters, now have the capability
to destroy identified targets rapidly and with precision. At one end of the
spectrum, this is achieved when supporting troops actually in contact with the
enemy at close-quarters, as is often the norm in Afghanistan, requiring very
careful cooperation to avoid friendly-fire incidents. At the other end of the
scale, air forces can act entirely independently of armies or naval forces to
strike directly at the enemys leadership or will to make war, or at key facilities,
a good example being the Israeli Air Forces successful destruction of a
Syrian nuclear cache in 2007.10
The accuracy of the precision weaponry available today means that
one bomb can be used to destroy a target where fifteen would have had to be
used twenty years ago, and these weapons can now be used whatever the
weather, day or night. Increasingly, armies are relying on air forces to provide
the firepower to replace their own heavy equipment (such as artillery and
tanks) so that they are lighter and more easily deployable, and can be
configured more appropriately for peace-keeping and stabilization
operations.11 In the campaign that overthrew Saddam Husseins regime in
10 Operation Orchard employed 8 IAF Eagle combat air aircraft to strike the Syrian facility on 6
September 2007.11 General Sir Richard Dannatt, speech transcript the Land Environment Moving Towards2018, RUSI Land Warfare Conference, 12 June 2008.
7
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
8/23
2003, over 75% of the 20,000 individual actions fought with Iraqi forces were
brought to a conclusion by air power, and this was critical in minimizing
casualties to British and American troops. The dependence of land forces on
combat air for the provision of heavy firepower and the concomitant
reorganisation of the Army to take advantage of it must be acknowledged
and understood in discussions about future force structures, or the United
Kingdoms capability to contribute to operations beyond limited counter-
insurgencies will be compromised.
The use of force is always a last resort, especially in wars where the
consent of the local populace is an important factor, so the employment of
precision attack capabilities also aims to influence behaviours causing an
effect - by targeting an enemys will, rather than necessarily attacking his
physical capabilities through the destruction of target sets. Because of the
psychological dominance provided by air power in both Iraq and Afghanistan,
fast and noisy fly-pasts have often been effective in dispersing crowds and
keeping insurgents heads down without recourse to weaponry, and the mere
presence of aircraft or helicopters often provides a powerful deterrent against
attack. While no military operations can be conducted without the risk of
civilian casualties, developments in weaponry (including the provision of small
diameter bombs and non-fragmentary warheads) mean that if force is
required, it can be used proportionately, while the very high standard of
training of RAF pilots, the useful detachment provided by the airmens
perspective over the battlefield, strict adherence to the Laws of Armed
Conflict and a stringent targeting process all mean that it may be applied with
much more discrimination than other forms of indirect fire, such as artillery,
mortar or rocket fire.12
12 As of January 2010, no RAF pilots have been implicated in allegations of civilian casualtiescaused by air strikes in Afghanistan.
8
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
9/23
AIR POWER IN PRACTICE
The four areas of air power capabilities provided by the RAF are used
in direct support of the defence and security of the United Kingdom on both a
day-to-day basis, and to meet unforeseen crises and contingencies.
Air Power and the Security of the United Kingdom
At home, the RAFs primary task is to guarantee control of the airspace
above the United Kingdom, to ensure that the country is safe from aerial
attack. At present, the most significant threat is a repetition of a 9/11-style
event, with a hijacked airliner being used as a suicide bomb. Consequently, a
force ofTyphoon fighters is held at quick reaction alert all year round, day
and night, with a remit to take-off or scramble within five minutes to intercept
any aircraft that enters the United Kingdoms airspace without proper
authorisation. This is a demanding requirement and, as demonstrated by the
attack on the World Trade Centre, the consequences of a successful terrorist
incident would be devastating: there is no margin for error. In 2007 alone,
ninety-eight alerts were called and fighters scrambled forty-three times to
check airliners that had failed to make proper contact with air traffic control
and, on some occasions, to escort probing Russian military patrol aircraft
away from the United Kingdoms airspace. As well as routine air defence
cover, high profile events require particular attention, and the RAFs Typhoon
fighter force, air defence radar system and specialist Sentryairborne warning
radar aircraft will all be critical in ensuring the security of the 2012 Olympics.
RAF search and rescue helicopters are also scrambled on a daily
basis, not only on conventional rescue missions, but also to assist civilian
agencies in the wake of events such as the widespread flooding in Cumbria
and the Lake District in November 2009 and the harsh winter weather in
January this year. Over 1,200 people in the United Kingdom and the Falkland
Islands more than 100 every month are assisted or rescued by RAF
helicopters every year. Maritime patrol aircraft are tasked with longer-rangerescue operations, and also have an important role in monitoring the United
9
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
10/23
Kingdoms territorial waters, providing protection for the nations fisheries and
other offshore interests.
In addition to these critical, but routine duties, the RAF has to be ready
to react to any unforeseen events or crises, so forces are held at readiness to
support national, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and European
Union (EU) response forces. This means that properly equipped aircraft and
fully trained personnel are identified and ear-marked to be available to meet
contingencies within a specified time-scale. The forces need to be balanced
to cater for any eventuality, imposing an additional burden on personnel when
they are recovering between operational tours of duty. About 3,000 of the
RAFs people are deployed on operations at any one time, usually for periods
of four to six months. Currently, some 20% of the RAFs trained uniformed
strength are committed to operations in Afghanistan every year, and on
average every member of the RAF will serve in a combat zone every two to
three years, although the tempo of operations for key specialists and trades
such as helicopter, fast jet and transport aircrew, paramedics and the RAF
Regiment may be markedly higher. While manning operations, the RAF
also has to sustain itself by training over 2,000 recruits every year, effectively
replacing about 5% of its front-line strength annually.
Air Power and Expeditionary Operations
During the Cold War, the RAF was largely based in the United
Kingdom and Germany and was largely configured to fight from static bases
within the bounds of continental Europe. Since the fall of the Berlin wall and
the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the RAF has transformed itself into an
expeditionary air force, able to deliver air power wherever it is required to
support the United Kingdoms national interests around the globe. This has
involved optimising equipment to make it mobile and air-transportable,
changing the organisational structure into Expeditionary Air Wings that can
be deployed as balanced packages of air power capability, equivalent to army
brigades or naval task forces and, most importantly, training and equippingairmen and airwomen to operate in austere locations, where enemy attacks
10
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
11/23
may be expected at any time and from any direction, and where personnel of
all ranks, branches and trades are able to defend themselves.
In the post-Cold War era, British air power has played a key part
across the entire spectrum of conflict, from conventional, high-intensity
warfighting to low-intensity irregular warfare and humanitarian interventions.
Significant operations have included the First Gulf War in 1991, Bosnia in
1995, Kosovo in 1999, Sierra Leone in 2000, the Iraq War in 2003, the
Counter-insurgency in Iraq from 2003-2009 and the ongoing operation 13 in
Afghanistan. Throughout this period, the RAF was also constantly deployed
on enduring active operations, including Northern Ireland Operation Banner
- and the air policing of the no-fly zones that were used to contain Saddam
Husseins regime between the two wars with Iraq in 1991 and 2003. During
this eleven year period, British and American aircraft flew over 300,000
missions without a single allied casualty, successfully neutering Iraq as a
regional threat and constraining its ability to attack its own people. In
contrast, since its direct intervention in Iraq in 2003, the United States alone
has suffered over 4000 military deaths and the operation has cost in excess of
$1 trillion or $12.5 billion per month; the joint cost of the no-fly zones was less
than $1 billion per annum, or a gross 30 million to the United Kingdom.14
This indicates that in some circumstances, air power may provide viable
alternative foreign policy solutions to the commitment of major ground forces.
While there is a perception that air power is expensive, its costs are clearly
marginal when set against the human and financial consequences of
prolonged, high-intensity land fighting.
Air power, therefore, has attributes that make it particularly relevant to
expeditionary operations. It can respond very quickly, and with global reach
to a crisis, providing either a deterrent presence or hard-edged capability. For
example, RAF Tornado aircraftwere deployed to Saudi Arabia, without prior
notice, within seventy-two hours of the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, bounding
the conflict by helping to deter further Iraqi aggression and providing
13 Operation Herrick.14 Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, Three Trillion Dollar War, New York: Allen Lane, 2008.
11
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
12/23
reassurance to allies within the region. Similarly, only air power can respond
quickly enough to a natural disaster to provide humanitarian relief that makes
a real difference in the immediate aftermath of a crisis. Following the
earthquake in Pakistan in 2005, RAF C-17and Hercules transport aircraft flew
in food aid and vital supplies immediately and three RAF Chinookhelicopters
were operating in the region within a week. Although the requirement for
access, basing and over-flight rights are often cited as a weakness of land-
based aircraft, in reality, the employment of British air power in the post-Cold
War era has been consistent with legal and moral justifications understood by
states neighbouring the zone of crisis, and gaining host nation support has
rarely proved to be a problem. Aircraft carriers can be a useful alternative, but
the cost is very high, and the demanding nature of carrier operations means
that the range and payload of carrier aircraft must be markedly reduced in
comparison to their land-based contemporaries. Consequently, while carrier
aviation may be useful in an emergency, in practice, aircraft would be
deployed to operating bases on land as soon as practicable, to maximise
capabilities and minimise costs.
Air power can also be used to scale a response up or down in easily
controllable steps at very short notice; in the no-fly zones, aircraft were
usually employed to monitor and prevent Iraqi military activity, but when the
Iraqis failed to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions, air
power was used to encourage cooperation through carefully targeted attacks
such as Operation Desert Fox in 1998, when RAF Tornado combat air
aircraft were used to bomb selected Iraqi command and control facilities.
While air power is usually most effective when employed in conjunction
with land or naval forces as part of a joint force, it does offer decision-makers
the opportunity to influence behaviours or events without having to risk the
commitment of major ground forces, with the political implications that this
always entails. During Operation Deliberate Force in 1995, a United Nations
mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina, commanded by General Rupert Smith,
employed an intense air campaign, in conjunction with a small ground force,to break the political stalemate. Within one month, the warring parties had
12
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
13/23
agreed to meet at the Dayton peace conference to hammer out a political
solution to the five-year conflict; a classic example of the utility of force as a
lever of national power. Air power, in the form of precision strike, close air
support to otherwise vulnerable troops, and extensive reconnaissance, was
used with great discrimination, within a well-analysed political context, to
achieve precise political effects. Specifically, it was used to target the assets
of the power-brokers, not the wider population, and was skilfully interleaved
with the diplomatic process in a carrot-and-stick approach to coerce the
opposing factions into negotiation. In this case, the real value of air power
was its ability to deploy rapidly and act decisively, and then to remain poised
to be re-committed to bolster diplomacy as and when required. The absence
of a military footprint on the disputed territory itself removed a political liability
and mitigated an area of risk, as there was widespread political concern within
European capitals about the exposure of their forces on the ground in a
hostile environment.
This was why the Kosovo campaign four years later (Operation Allied
Force) was also prosecuted as an air operation, with the RAF contributing
Tornado and Harrierattack to the NATO plan which aimed to coerce Serbia
into withdrawing its forces. Although the 78-day operation was more
protracted than originally expected, it was eventually successful in forcing
President Milosevic to negotiate and withdraw without the loss of a single
Alliance casualty, and without the necessity for large-scale land fighting.
Finally, while unforeseen or contingent operations inevitably act as a
focus for attention, air power routinely contributes to the United Kingdoms
wider security on a global basis. Afghanistan is overwhelmingly the current
main effort for the RAF, but over 700 personnel are currently deployed
elsewhere in the world, supporting United Nations missions in Africa,
European Union operations in the Balkans and maintaining a significant
presence in the Falkland Islands, where a small, but balanced force of fighter
and transport aircraft and helicopters maintain the Islands sovereignty and
security from Mount Pleasant Airfield. Another good example of the use of airpower to support the broader security of the nation has been the success of
13
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
14/23
RAF Sentry radar aircraft in tracking drug-running light aircraft and small
boats in the Caribbean, enabling significant seizures to be made and
materially reducing the flow of illegal substances into the United Kingdom.
Afghanistan
Although the nature of current operations in Afghanistan is very specific
to the theatre itself and the type of counter-insurgency warfare being
conducted there, the scale and range of the RAFs contribution graphically
demonstrates the utility of air power in the round. The significance of the air
effort is not always well understood in what is sometimes erroneously
perceived to be a solely army-led operation. In reality, the campaign is a
closely integrated air-land operation, where army and air force are equal
partners: the Army contributes the manpower and presence on the ground,
while the RAF delivers effect, particularly situational awareness, mobility and
when necessary firepower. The importance of air power is not always
recognised, because by its very nature, it tends to be discrete, remote and
often invisible. Consequently, while a lay observer can respond intuitively to
media images of an army patrol moving through an Afghan village, the total
reliance of those soldiers on all aspects of air power is not always as obvious:
the patrol will be depending on situational awareness provided by unseen and
unheard surveillance aircraft; the assurance of firepower support from on-call
fighter aircraft and unmanned systems over the horizon; the mobility and
resupply capability provided by tactical air transport; and will be bolstered by
the knowledge that if necessary, medical evacuation helicopters are on hand
to ensure that battle casualties will be delivered to first-class hospital care
within the critical golden hour.
Control of the air means that air power represents NATOs own
asymmetric advantage over the Taliban, and that all of its capabilities can be
fully exploited as a force multiplier. In the first place, strategic and tactical air
lift continues to be vital. The air-bridge to Afghanistan is the United Kingdoms
link with the operational theatre and is maintained continuously, despite otherglobal commitments. For example, a Tristar tanker-transport aircraft was
14
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
15/23
recently taken from supporting the Afghan air effort to go to Ascension Island
to refuel four Typhoons on deployment to the Falklands, to provide an air
defence and deterrent capability in the Islands. The Tristarwas back on the
strategic air-bridge the next day, illustrating air power's unique flexibility to
quickly deploy and redeploy, wherever required, on a global scale.
Within theatre, tactical airlift shrinks the country, making security
manageable with a smaller ground force and providing a tangible means of
supporting Afghan government agencies, reinforcing the sense of national
governance and mitigating insurgent activity. For example, RAF tactical air
transport is used to ferry wheat seed into Helmand to support the harvest and
has also been pivotal in building a more credible Afghan National Police force.
Recruits are now trained in specialist training centres, remote from sometimes
unhelpful tribal influences and mirroring the successful system used in the
Afghan army. However, this depends on regular air transport to move the
recruits around the country, requiring careful risk mitigation, as the volunteers
- some of whom may well be ex-Taliban must be flown straight off the street.
The Kandahar Prison breakout in June 2008 provides an excellent
illustration of the broader utility of air power. Eleven hundred Afghan
prisoners, including 400 Taliban hard-liners, escaped from the Afghan-run
prison and into Kandahar City. Febrile news reporting predicted an impending
political disaster for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF),
speculating that a resurgent Taliban would now be able to retake Kandahar.
Within forty-eight hours this had become a non-story. The ISAF commander,
General McKiernan, was determined that the problem must be handled
primarily by Afghan security forces, but the most capable Afghan forces were
based in Kabul, three days away by road. Consequently, RAF transport
aircraft were diverted from routine tasking in flight to land at Kabul and move
the Afghan army battalion to Kandahar. The task was complete by the same
evening, permitting the Afghan army to plan to deploy into Kandahar city at
first light.
15
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
16/23
Overnight, all RAF missions were re-tasked to stabilize the situation
and support Canadian ground forces in the city pending the arrival of the
Afghan Army in the morning: Harriercombat air aircraft provided continuous
over-watch, using their advanced, infra-red targeting pods to provide
intelligence, sometimes conducting shows of force to deter insurgent action
and keeping potential trouble-makers off the streets; RAF Reaperunmanned
aircraft extended their mission-time to seventeen hours, using their state-of-
the-art surveillance systems to provide ground commanders with excellent
intelligence; and the Hercules transports used in the airlift operation were
reconfigured to drop leaflets to reassure the civilian population, an
unexpected task executed within four hours of the receipt of the request.
Notably, all of this was achieved without the use of lethal force, complying
with the commanders direction that coalition forces should hold the ring as
discretely as possible until the Afghan security forces were in place. At dawn,
the Afghan army cleared the escapees from the populated areas of Kandahar
quickly and efficiently and the potential crisis, with its attendant political
liability, evaporated. Not only had the incident been resolved, but it had been
turned to the Coalitions advantage by showcasing the developing prowess of
the Afghan army.
THE FUTURE OF BRITISH AIR POWER
New Domains of Conflict
All current trend forecasts emphasize the increasingly fragmented and
disparate nature of conflicts and crises. In the coming years, the United
Kingdom will need to deal with a multiplicity of sub-state threats and actors,
but may also have to confront traditional states with similar high-technology
capabilities to ourselves, either directly, or through proxies in ungoverned
spaces.15 Adversaries in this future battlespace both state and non-state -
will therefore be highly agile, and are likely to have access to sophisticated
capabilities. In this sort of environment, time is a weapon, and air power is
best placed to exploit the fourth dimension by taking advantage of fleeting15HLOC Framework, page iv, para 6.
16
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
17/23
opportunities as they arise. Future success will depend on effective decision
making, based on accurate and timely information, underpinned by the agility
delivered through flexible and adaptive capabilities. In particular, space and
cyber-space will become increasingly important in military operations, and the
RAFs core values as an institution make it particularly well-suited to lead the
defence sector in the exploitation of these domains.
The provision of accurate and timely information has always been
critical to the effectiveness of all military activities, and the importance of the
information domain is increasing as societies become more networked. The
exponential growth in the availability of information means that the RAF must
understand how to deliver and protect national interests - which may depend
as much on perceptions as on hard realities - in the cyber domain. This
means that a cadre of people must be developed who understand and can
manage the modern networked environment, and are comfortable with the
concept of treating information as a capability in itself. Here, the
organizational culture of the RAF is a real strength: it is steeped in a history of
information management and network operation. Fighter Commands air
defence system during the Battle of Britain was a classic example, where
information from radar and observers was collected, processed, fused and
disseminated to provide battle-winning decision-superiority to the RAF
commanders. This tradition of networking, driven by the particular
requirement of air operations for timely information, has continued to the
present day, forming the basis, for example, of the strategy that is being
developed to create the best possible intelligence picture to counter the
proliferation of improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.16
One of the real current challenges for defence is in sharing information
effectively, so that military capabilities may be integrated and synchronized at
speed with the other services, government departments and coalition
members that will be encountered on operations within the comprehensive
approach that is now necessary to resolve complex crises. Additionally, as
network capabilities are enhanced, so the susceptibility to computer network16 Air Cmd Strategy for NEC in the Air Environment dated Dec 08.
17
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
18/23
attack and computer network exploitation increases;17 indeed, in a world
where information is pre-eminent, it could also quickly become a critical
vulnerability. Set against a backdrop of a dynamic and proliferating threat,18
an effective computer network defence capability is therefore essential. This
means identifying and addressing risks as early as possible in the capability
development process, while developing tactics, techniques and procedures to
provide resilience where networks are contested or compromised.
Space is similarly vital to both our military operations and wider society.
All nine sectors of the United Kingdoms critical national infrastructure depend
to a greater or lesser extent on space and networked operations,19 and there
is a growing awareness across government of what a bad space day might
look like, in terms of both military effectiveness and the economic viability of
the United Kingdom as a functioning state. Up to 90% of all military
capabilities depend on space, from surveillance to navigation and targeting
and, most fundamentally, the accurate position and timing functions which are
vital to nearly all activities.20 Inevitably, the United Kingdom will have to
continue to rely on alliances and partnerships for access to space, leveraged
through influence and specialist knowledge. The RAF has already forged
important relationships with the United States and has developed the British
Military Space Operations Coordination Centre to build a credible level of
expertise to understand and exploit space power most effectively. However,
prudence dictates that the United Kingdom casts the net as widely as possible
to guarantee its access to space and also remains open to the technological
developments that may offer the means to acquire an affordable indigenous
space capability - nanotechnologies enabling small satellites are one
example. What is certain is that despite treaty constraints, space will become
an increasingly contested domain, and a concept of operations must be
developed to deal with this. The United States Operationally Responsive
17 Operations to produce intelligence from CIS. (GCHQ Paper - The UK Framework forComputer Network Operations dated 16 Mar 06)18 CDS Directive 06/08 - the number of detected deliberate attacks on MoD networks has
increased over a 2 yr. period.19 See:www.cpni.gov.uk.20FASOC 2009,p.1-2.
18
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
19/23
Space Initiative provides one potential model for how flexible space
capabilities may be delivered in short timescales in such an environment.21
Affordable Air Power
The future strategic environment is uncertain, with diverse and
unpredictable threats to security including religious fundamentalism, global
warming, large-scale migration, competition for resources, poverty, inequality
and poor governance. Within this problematic context, the global economic
down-turn and the size of the United Kingdoms budget deficit mean that that
the challenge for air power is to provide relevant capabilities that are matched
directly to the nations security needs - but are also affordable.
It is clear that a balanced force structure is necessary, so that the RAF
can continue to deliver across all four of the air power roles and in the space
and cyber domains too. Accomplishing this will not be easy, because of the
variety, unpredictability and uncertainty of the threats likely to be faced in the
future. This is where agility and adaptability in equipment and personnel is
essential. Radical partnering arrangements with industry have been adopted
to support the RAFs aircraft fleets, and these are on track to yield some 2
billion worth of savings over the next five years. Similarly, the Future
Strategic Tanker and Transport Aircraft programme is another ground-
breaking, world-leading initiative, which aims to deliver affordable capability
through a joint military-civilian enterprise employing civilian personnel as RAF
reservists and selling-back surplus capacity to the commercial sector. These
innovations demonstrate real determination to wring the most out of every
defence pound; implementation has required a high level of commitment to
overcome the sometimes painful adjustments required in traditional working
practices and processes.
One of the RAFs enduring institutional strengths is its readiness and
capacity to embrace emerging technologies and, in the relatively near-term,
technical solutions are in prospect that may offer ways to square the circle21Ibid, C-1.
19
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
20/23
between capability and cost. For example, the development of simulated and
synthetic training technologies will enhance the quality of the learning
experience while driving down the cost of flying training, not least its
environmental impact. More fundamentally, the emergence of directed
energy weapons may mark a revolutionary step-change in air power
capabilities, potentially offering a low collateral alternative to the employment
of more traditional and very expensive capabilities, such as low observable or
stealthy platforms, as a means of, for example, securing control of the air; it
may well be possible to neutralise a sophisticated air defence system by using
directed-energy weapons in conjunction with cyber-attack without the
necessity to physically destroy targets on the ground.
Consideration of a balanced force is not, therefore, just a question of
numbers of platforms (the proportion of fast jets to helicopters or transport
aircraft) but rather the overall balance of capabilities. The key areas at stake
include sensibly balancing the mix of manned and unmanned systems; the
issue of capability versus mass; and the correct emphasis between high
technology systems, with universal utility, against lower technology and less
capable systems that are likely to be capable of niche employment only.
None of these issues are likely to be either-or choices. For example,
unmanned aircraft will contribute significantly to future capability, as they offer
a very attractive and cost-effective option for dull, dirty and dangerous tasks,
at minimal (or no) risk to their operators, all with impressive persistence.
However, within the bounds of near-term technology, manned aircraft retain
significant advantages over unmanned aircraft and their remote operators in
terms of speed, payload, flexibility, discrimination and situational awareness.
Additionally, the legal and ethical implications of flying unmanned aircraft in
civilian-controlled airspace, and the role and status of their operators, are
important concerns that are yet to be fully resolved.
Adaptability can help to resolve force-balance dilemmas and genuine
multi-role capabilities particularly in terms of manned and unmanned
combat air aircraft mitigate some of the problems. For example, althoughthe Tornado was originally planned as a Cold War bomber, over the last two
20
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
21/23
decades it has been used continuously in everything from intense,
conventional high-technology combat - on four occasions, in the Gulf and in
the Balkans - through low-intensity air policing over Iraq, to its current role as
a counter-insurgency platform in Afghanistan. Although the original unit cost
of the Tornado was 20 million, its intrinsic capability has provided the
development potential that has permitted it to be adapted so successfully to
different circumstances, and few other modern weapon systems can match its
ubiquity. The Tornados remarkable track record demonstrates the
importance of the Typhoon and Lightning (the Joint Strike Fighter) as the
future of the RAFs combat air capability, as their multi-role adaptability will
underpin three of the four air power roles: control of the air, intelligence and
situational awareness, and attack. However, there are limits to the effects
that multi-role adaptability can deliver, and there is a danger in investing
exclusively in a diminishing number of highly capable platforms; this is where
the capability versus mass argument comes into play, and new technologies
and unmanned systems offer options to balance the capability-mix.
Air power and Society
The RAF is rooted in the community particularly through its 2,500
reservists, who routinely serve on active duty, and its 60,000-strong air cadet
force, which is one of the countrys premier youth organisations. The RAF
also employs 8,000 civilian staff directly, and has a huge impact as a wealth
generator and employer on the economies of the often remote and rural areas
where its major operating bases tend to be located. As a technology based
fighting service, it is intimately linked to industry and the commercial
aerospace sector. Aerospace is one of the United Kingdoms most significant
export industries, the largest aerospace industry in Europe and second only to
the USA in the world. In 2008, the sector generated a turnover of 21 billion
and new orders of 35 billion.22 The RAFs reputation as a world class and
highly respected air force underpins this success. The Al Yamamah Project,
initiated in 1985 with Saudi Arabia, is a case in point. The largest contract
ever awarded to a British company, it has generated a substantial portion of22 The UK Trade and Investment website Aerospace (civil).
21
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
22/23
Britains export earnings over the last two decades and its success has
depended on the support and advocacy of the RAF. Recent export orders for
Typhoon (seventy-two for Saudi Arabia and eighteen for Austria) demonstrate
the confidence that other nations continue to retain in RAF equipment, training
and aircraft.
Projects such as Typhoon and Al Yamamah bring financial benefits in
terms of exports and job creation and also have strategic significance through
the maintenance of aerospace expertise and a defence industrial base. The
long term support required for Typhoon and Lightning (the Joint Strike
Fighter) means that the United Kingdom will be able to retain its aerospace
engineering and design capability for the through-life management of these
aircraft: at least twenty five years. Typhoon is estimated to have created
40,000 jobs in the United Kingdom, while the A400Maircraft programme has
added another 8,000. Finally, the cutting-edge research and development
involved in aerospace equipment projects creates technological spin-offs that
can be harnessed to other sectors of industry, such as car manufacturing and
engineering.
CONCLUSION
The RAF is the United Kingdoms prime provider of air power, with
ninety-two years of experience and expertise in delivering capabilities across
the entire spectrum of operations in support of the UKs national interests.
Whilst the main effort for the RAF is focused on the Afghanistan campaign,
recent history and future trends indicate that a balanced force structure must
be maintained, to provide relevant capabilities for current operations, but also
with the resilience to cater for future contingencies. In terms of affordability,
this demands a mix of high-technology and less-capable platforms, including
a significant, multi-role combat air element (both manned and unmanned),
more specialist Intelligence and Situational Awareness platforms and an
appropriate emphasis on transport aircraft and helicopters to meet the level of
expeditionary ambition set out in any forthcoming defence and security WhitePaper.
22
-
8/1/2019 RAF Air Power
23/23
In an uncertain world, where traditional threats endure and novel
threats are proliferating, capable air power offers unique policy options and
alternatives to decision-makers as one of the essential levers of national
power, not least in underpinning conventional deterrence. The ability to fight
for control of the air, to deliver precision strike, to gain information and
awareness about the enemy, and to provide sufficient lift to support rapid
deployment and maneuver on the battlefield will all remain as essential and
non-discretionary capabilities for the United Kingdoms future defence and
security. Moreover, the RAF is at the vanguard of developments in space and
cyber-space, and is best placed to lead the defence sector in these new and
important environments.
[Word count 7,352]