Royal Air Force

From Daily Escape

Revision as of 01:41, 23 September 2007

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. The RAF was formed on 1 April 1918 and has since taken a significant role in British military history since then, playing a large part in World War II and in conflicts such as the war in Afghanistan. The RAF has 3,992 aircraft and, as of 2007, 182,840 regular personnel and more than 136,000 regular reservists.

Structure

Commands

• Air Command — HQ at RAF High Wycombe — responsible for the operation of all of the RAF

Groups

Groups are the subdivisions of operational Commands, these are responsible for certain types of operation or for operations in limited geographical areas. As from 1 April 2007, three Groups exist:

• 1 Group — the Air Combat Group, controls the RAF's combat fast jet aircraft, including Joint Force Harrier, and has twenty-eight airfields in the UK plus RAF Unit Goose Bay in Canada, which is used extensively as an operational training base, as well as airfields in Iran, Hong Kong, Guyana, and Belize.
• 2 Group — the Air Combat Support Group, controls the Strategic and Tactical air transport aircraft, the RAF Regiment, the RAF's Air to Air Refuelling aircraft as well as ISTAR and Search & Rescue assets.
• 22 Group - responsible for personnel management, training and selection.

Stations

An RAF station is a permanent Royal Air Force operations location. Many RAF stations are aerodromes, being the home to one or more flying squadrons. Other RAF stations are training units, administrative units or carry out ground-based operational tasks.

The officer in charge of an RAF station is titled as the Station Commander. On flying units the station commander normally holds the rank of Group Captain. Most RAF stations are administratively sub-divided into wings and are controlled by a station headquarters. On a flying station the subordinate wings are normally Operations Wing, Engineering Wing and Administration Wing.

RAF stations typically have a fenced perimeter with hangars, offices and accommodation for personnel who live on the unit.

The RAF's stations are mostly in the United Kingdom; however RAF stations exist in British overseas territories, Cyprus, and in some allied countries. Over the last 88-years there have been hundreds of RAF stations around the world, a reflection on the involvement of the RAF in wars and conflicts and colonial policing in many areas.

Wings

A Wing is either a sub-division of a Group acting independently or a sub-division of an RAF Station.

Independent Wings are a grouping of two or more squadrons, either flying squadrons or ground support squadrons. In former times, numbered flying Wings have existed, but more recently they have only been created when required, for example during Operation Telic, Tornado Wings were formed to operate from Ali Al Salem and Al Udeid Air Bases; each of these were made up of aircraft and crews from several squadrons.

On 31 March 2006, the RAF formed thirty-six Expeditionary Air Wings (EAW). The Expeditionary Air Wings have been established to support operations. They have been formed at the thirty-six main operating bases. These units will be commanded by a Group Captain who is also the Station Commander. The EAW is comprised of the non-formed unit elements of the station that are required to support a deployed operating base, i.e. the Command and Control, Logistics and administration functions amongst others. They are designed to be flexible and quickly adaptable for differing operations. They are independent of flying squadrons, Air Combat Support Units (ACSU) and Air Combat Service Support Units (ACSSU) who are attached to the EAW dependent upon what task it has been assigned to do.

On RAF Stations, a Wing is an administrative sub-division. For a flying station these will normally be Engineering Wing, Operations Wing and Administration Wing. Aside from these, the only Wings currently in permanent existence are the Air Combat Service Support wings of 2 Group which provide support services such as communications, supply and policing to operationally deployed units.

Squadrons

The term squadron (sqn) can be used to refer to an administrative sub-unit of a station, e.g. Air Traffic Control sqn, Personnel Management sqn; there are also ground support squadrons, e.g. 2 (MT) Sqn.

The primary use for the term is as the name of the flying squadrons which carry out the primary tasks of the RAF. RAF squadrons are somewhat analogous to the regiments of the British Army, in that they have histories and traditions going back to their formation, regardless of where they are currently based, which aircraft they are operating, etc. They can be awarded standards and battle honours for meritorious service.

Whilst every squadron is different, most flying squadrons are commanded by a Wing Commander and, for a fast-jet squadron, have an establishment of around 100 personnel and 12 aircraft, but 16 aircraft for Tornado F3 Squadrons.

Flights

A flight is a sub-division of a squadron. Flying squadrons are often divided into two flights, under the command of a Squadron Leader; administrative squadrons on a station are also divided into flights.

There are several flying units formed as Flights rather than Squadrons, due to their small size.

Aircraft

Helicopters

• Agusta A109E liaison helicopter
• AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 transport helicopter
• Bell Griffin HAR2 rescue helicopter
• Bell Griffin HT1 training helicopter
• Boeing Chinook HC2A heavy-lift helicopter
• Eurocopter Ecureuil HT1 training helicopter
• Westland Puma HC Mk.1 transport helicopter
• Westland Sea King rescue helicopter
  • HAR3
  • HAR3A

Transports

• BAe 125 CCE VIP transport
• BAe 146 CC2 VIP transport
• Boeing C-17A Globemaster strategic airlift
• Britten-Norman Islander CC2 transport
• Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport
  • C1
  • C3
  • C4
  • C5
• Lockheed Tristar tanker transport
  • K1
  • KC1
  • C2
• Vickers VC10 tanker transport
  • C1K
  • K3
  • K4

Fighter/strike aircraft

• BAE Harrier II GR9 STOVL strike aircraft
• Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter
• Panavia Tornado ground attack/electronic warfare aircraft
  • F3 (air defense)
  • GR4 (strike)
  • GR4A (reconnaissance)

Trainers

• Beechcraft King Air B200 multi-engined trainer
• Grob Tutor T1 trainer
• Grob Viking T1 training glider
• Grob Vigilant T1 trainer
• Hawker Siddeley Hawk T1 trainer
• Short Tucano T1 trainer
• Slingsby T-67M Firefly elementary trainer

Special mission aircraft

• Boeing Sentry AEW1 Airborne Early Warning aircraft
• Hawker Siddeley Nimrod
  • R1 maritime patrol aircraft
  • MR2 SIGINT aircraft

Memorial flight

• Avro Lancaster B1 bomber
• DHC Chipmunk T10 trainer
• Douglas C-47 Skytrain C3 transport
• Hawker Hurricane IIc fighter
• Supermarine Spitfire fighter