UK Air Defence

[uk 75]

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 will be interesting to see how the new Government's Strategic Defence Review copes with the Russian use of non-nuclear missiles and drones to terrorise civilian targets in raids similar in aim and scope to the Luftwaffe Blitz of 1940.
During the Cold War it was much more straightforward. In the opening non nuclear phase Soviet aircraft were expected to focus on military targets with only limited damage to civilians in nearby areas. Any mass killing of civilians would be nuclear and receive a similar UK response.
There are no Patriot batteries in the UK at present though a T45 destroyer has similar capabilities.

 

[Colonial-Marine]

Before the USSR fell apart were there any intentions to field a long-range SAM to replace the aging Bloodhound?

 

[CJGibson]

Aye, GAST.1210 but it dragged on a bit, everyone went for a pint, and it didn't make much progress. Now we rely on RN destroyers. When they work.

Chris

 

[Foo Fighter]

They better have the latest hotfix update then.

"Sorry captain cannot fire, reporting hotfix error %400% 'Out of cheese, reboot'....."

 

[bob225]

Back when the RAF Regiment ran the Rapier systems you would often see the mobile rapier sites pop up in and around the various bases dotted around East Anglia. Although no idea on range etc, think they we're just line of site / radar????

Royal Artillery now responsible for all that with sky saber and star streak???

With the sizeof our forces now we've probably got enough kit and personnel to secure one town as long as its small, but probably no live rounds to fire!

 

[Grey Havoc]

Aye, GAST.1210 but it dragged on a bit, everyone went for a pint, and it didn't make much progress. Now we rely on RN destroyers. When they work.

Chris

Another program was Wolverine, but that was more of a tactical ABM system. There was a plan to procure some Patriot batteries I believe, but it got bogged down post-Cold War by the so-called 'Peace Dividend' (of which HM Treasury was a great fan), and then got cancelled altogether by the Blair Government when it took office.

 

[Grey Havoc]

From back in May:

UK given stark warning over ‘negligible’ air defence systems

Exclusive: Key defence contractor says UK’s capabilities are ‘very limited’ as a result of long-term under-investment

www.theguardian.com

 

[Grey Havoc]

And least we forget, the UK, and in particular the RAF, are also effectively responsible for what ever air defence Ireland has:

Who protects Irish skies? The secret air defence deal that dates back to the Cold War

Ireland’s air defence agreement with the UK dates to the early days of the Cold War and remains in place today, despite legal concerns

www.irishtimes.com

 

[Grey Havoc]

On a side note:

RAF Air Defence Radar Museum - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Home | RAF Air Defence Radar Museum

Experience the country’s only original Cold War Operations Room, which formed a critical link in the RAF’s Command and Control System in the years following WW2.

www.radarmuseum.co.uk

 

[Grey Havoc]

RRH Neatishead - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Grey Havoc]

I could have sworn we had a thread on Cold War bunkers, including ones belonging to the Royal Observer Corps, somewhere around. Oh well.

A Cold War nuclear bunker on edge of Dartmoor – yours for £12,000

Windowless 122 sq ft property near village of Ugborough being sold at auction comes with iron bunk bed and chemical toilet

www.telegraph.co.uk

Few property viewings involve a warning to “exercise extreme caution” and tour your potential forever home “entirely at your own risk” – but not many homes are accessed by descending a 15ft vertical shaft using a rusty ladder.

This is the journey awaiting bidders for a 122 sq ft nuclear bunker on the edge of Dartmoor – for sale at auction with a guide price of £12,000.

The living space has no windows, no mod cons and its creature comforts are a 70-year-old iron bunk bed, a tattered fire blanket, a chemical toilet and a row of battered wooden shelves and cupboards.

The facility, a Cold War-era Royal Observer Corps [ROC] bunker near the Saxon village of Ugborough that is designed to detect nuclear attack, is currently owned by David Cavendish, a retired engineer.

Mr Cavendish bought the site about 19 years ago for £5,000 “on a whim” after reading a newspaper article about bunkers.

The 76-year-old – a member of Sub Brits, a society devoted to the study of man-made underground spaces – said: “It sounded like an interesting curiosity so I went for it.”

[snip]