raf strike command

Ever since the first Zeppelin raids in World War 1 the vulnerability of the civilian population of the UK to attack from the air has been a major factor in shaping our armed forces. The tile "Air Defence of Great Britain" comes from the organisation set up to meet the only air threat imagined in...

Nothing in military history has given the RAF such a hold on the public imagination as the gallant Spitfire and Hurricane pilots of the Battle of Britain. Sadly in the postwar nuclear world their successors have only been tasked with wartime defence of key military infrastructure in the UK. It...

In 1960 some 64 Canberra B2 & B6 in 4 sqns based in Britain and assigned to SACEUR were replaced by 24 Valiants in 3 sqns. Despite the significant decrease in numbers this was considered a net benefit because of the Valiant's all weather capabilities. By 1964 the RAF still had 9 sqns of Canberra...

Have I missed something? Have I overlooked something? See Chris Gibson's (new?) Avatar ...

The English Electric Canberra became the UK's light strike bomber in both nuclear and conventional roles. It served long after it was obsolete in the face of Russian fighters and air defences. The RAF realised this and embarked on a programme to replace Canberra in the early 1960s. As we all...

Bristol Britannia BEWARE: as pictured in Chris Gibson's books 'The Air Staff and AEW' and 'Battle Flight'. I followed the drawing, with one exception: after Chris mentioned the limitations of Britannia's electrical system, I added a large APU under the left wing root. Hawker Siddeley...

G'day folks, consider this. The TSR2 goes into service and later requires a SLEP, what engines are avaulable and could a big wing be fitted/would it be an improvement?

If the Vickers Valiants had been transfered from strike to tankers earlier could the fatigue problems have been avoided. Their strike role could have been taken on by Vulcan or Victor B1s. With the Valiants serving into the 1970s the Victors could have continued in the recce and conventional...

This one is not really feasible but it does produce some interesting models or artwork. The USAF had its Hound Dogs in service from the Cuban Missile Crisis well into the 70s. If politics and other considerations had not got in the way, permutations of NATO Hound might have served on the...

Robert's latest book has gone to print and should be available, alongside the man himself, on the Crecy Publishing stand at IPMS Telford on 9th November 2019. Strategic Air Command in the UK Throughout its 46-year history, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was inextricably linked to the United...

Hi folks, Couldn't find a thread appropriate so here goes: Blue Steel MkII full-scale mock up fitted with wing-tip-mounted Bristol Siddeley ramjets: Source Blue Steel Viper variant full-scale mock up: Source

. Found this on Amazon.co.uk ; On Atlas' Shoulders: RAF Transport Aircraft Projects Since 1945 by Chris Gibson (Author) Hardcover – 31 Oct 2016 Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: Hikoki Publications (31 Oct. 2016) ISBN-10: 1902109511 ISBN-13: 978-1902109510

A much reproduced painting of the RAF F111K from General Dynamics (it heads up the Wikipedia entry) shows the plane in a non-standard green and brown camouflage pattern. I had always put this down to artistic licence but then I found a similar colour scheme on the cover of the 1970 RAF Souvenir...

I know that this is a well trodden subject but I thought that it would be interesting to compare the plans with what happened in reality. Ground Attack/Recce Squadrons It was planned to replace the Hunter with the 1154 Harrier in 8 squadrons: 2 in the UK, 2 in Germany, 2 in the Gulf and 2 in...

Is there anyone who can ID this plane for me? Is this a fake Picture ?! Regards, AK

220 Tornado IDS; replacing 7 Squadrons (6 from 1981) of Vulcan B.2 (56 in total), 5 squadrons of Jaguar and 2 squadrons of RAF Germany Buccaneers: 11 squadrons planned as of 1985 of which 2 were to be recce. there was ultimately a try-national training unit and the TWCU. 165 Tornado ADV...

The V-bomber fleet spent most of its life with relatively primitive avionics for the age, as far as I can tell only two major(ish) changes were ever made, the first was the addition of the ARI 5959 (General Dynamics AN/APN-170) J-band terrain following radar, however this came with restrictions-...

After my post someone pointed this out to me - any ideas/comments ? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vulcans-Hammer-V-force-Aircraft-Projects/dp/1902109171/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289860167&sr=1-1 .

Back in the 80s it was finally realised that the Avro Shackleton AEW was obsolete and later that the Nimrod AEW.3 project was very unlikely to work correctly. The UK Government and MoD went looking for a replacement and settled on the E-3D Sentry which entered RAF service in 1990. What were the...

BSP4 mentions proposals for air-launched versions of the Polaris and Pershing missiles for use on RAF Vulcans, does anyone have any performance estimates for these and how would they have compared to Skybolt?