Tornados from RAF Marham deploying to the Middle East on Exercise
A genuine question. Has it always been necessary for the RAF, as an expeditionary air force, to rely on a civilian contracted aircraft in order to deploy as per this article?
I had imagined that the RAF would maintain its own independent deployment capability, including heavy-lift transport etc. Is this a new thing due to cuts or has it always been the case for exercices, rather than military operations?