This book examines the RAF's ground attack capabilities, the threats it
faced, and the weapons, technologies and aircraft developed to counter
those threats from the end of World War II to the present day, moving
from the era of the Hawker Typhoon to that of the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Throughout the Cold War a major RAF role was to conduct low-level
attacks in support of NATO ground forces. Weapons and aircraft developed
to carry out this task included the Hawker Typhoon and Hunter. Harriers
and Phantoms were later used.
With the increase in Warsaw Pact armored forces and their air defense
capability, new weapons and aircraft were required resulting in two
roles becoming RAF specialities: counter-air and anti-armor operations.
The former saw Buccaneers and Jaguars armed with nuclear weapons and
Tornadoes with JP.233 to be used against airfields while the latter saw
Harriers, Jaguars and Phantoms with BL.755 cluster bombs and latterly
Typhoons with Brimstone, against armor.
Another role assigned to the RAF in support of its own, and the Army's,
operations was tactical reconnaissance. This equipment evolved from the
wet-film cameras of the 1940s and the IR linescan systems of the 1970s
to the real-time battle management systems on the Sentinel R.1 in the
new century.
Thankfully the RAF never went to war in Europe but saw plenty of action
around the world, where the aircraft and weapons developed to counter
the Soviets were used against enemies old and new.
