'Through Adversity to the Stars'

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.

The RAF operates 1,109 aircraft and, as of October 2009, had a total man power strength of 44,300 regular, and 2,500 part time personnel. These 46,800 active personnel make it the largest air force in the European Union, the second largest in NATO and fifth largest in the world.

The majority of the RAF's aircraft and personnel are based in the UK with many others serving on operations (principally Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Balkans) or at long-established overseas bases (Ascension Island, Canada, Cyprus, Diego Garcia, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands and Germany). The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed: to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government’s foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security."

The RAF's own mission statement reads as thus, to provide 'An agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission.'

The above statement goes hand in hand with the RAF's definition of air power, the concept that guides the RAF strategy.

Air Power is defined as: 'The ability to project military force in air or space by or from a platform or missile operating above the surface of the earth. Air platforms are defined as any aircraft, helicopter or unmanned air vehicle.'

Although the RAF is the principal British air power arm, the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and the British Army's Army Air Corps also deliver air power which is integrated into the maritime, littoral and land environments.

While the British were not the first to make use of heavier-than-air military aircraft, the RAF is the world's oldest independent air force. It was founded on 1 April 1918, during the WWI, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.

After the war, the service was drastically cut and its inter-war years were relatively quiet, with the RAF taking responsibility for the control of Iraq and executing a number of minor actions in other parts of the British Empire. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War. Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed "Article XV squadrons" for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from these countries, and exiles from occupied Europe, also served with RAF squadrons.

In the Battle of Britain, in the late summer of 1940, the RAF (supplemented by other multinationals) defended the skies over Britain against the German Luftwaffe, helping foil Hitler's plans for an invasion of the UK and prompting Prime Minister Winston Churchill to say in the House of Commons on 20 August, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

The largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. While RAF bombing of Germany began almost immediately upon the outbreak of war, under the leadership of Air Chief Marshal Harris, these attacks became increasingly devastating from 1942 onward as new technology and greater numbers of superior aircraft became available. The RAF adopted night-time area bombing on German cities such as Hamburg and Dresden, and developed precision bombing techniques for specific operations, such as the "Dambusters" raid by No. 617 Squadron, or the Amiens prison raid known as Operation Jericho.

During the Cold War years the main role of the RAF was the defence of the continent of Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, including holding the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent for a number of years.

After the Cold War, the RAF was involved in several large scale operations, including the Gulf War, the Kosovo War, operations in Afghanistan, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent war. The RAF celebrated its 90th birthday with a flypast of the Red Arrows and four Typhoons over many RAF Stations and Central London on 1 April 2008.

For further information please visit the official Royal Air Force site www.raf.mod.uk/

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