RAF Scampton?
Not so sure that it was as straight forward and positive as you make out! Bear in mind that this construction programme was started in the early to mid 50's when the only means of delivering the 10,000lb monstrosities which were the atomic weapons of the time required large 4 jet bombers that simply would not have been able to operate from the tired and run down wartime airfields which is what the RAF had at the time. There were no other delivery options available then, so when the Labour Government of the day took the decision that the UK would be an atomic power, and later Churchill took the same decision about the hydrogen bomb, we had no option but to build the 10 Class A airfields that you mention.
At the time the USAF were constructing even more and larger airfields in the UK to house SAC forward deployed as the B-47 could not reach the Soviet Union from the US, and this programme dwarfed the RAF one.
And it was not all rosy and positive, there was a cost to the building of these 10 airfields, three V-Bombers and the Atomic and later Hydrogen bombs. This cost was the disbandment of the entire operational strength of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, (20 fighter squadrons and many many more Fighter Control Units and Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment LAA squadrons) a reduction of over a half in flying squadrons in Germany, two thirds in Fighter Command, the axing of the RNVR flying squadrons, the disbandment of every single RAF Regiment squadron in Germany (over 30) and the complete abandonment of the conventional ground attack and day fighter role in Germany.
And it didn't last that long. The B1 Victors were gone by 1964, the Valiants by 1965 and the B1 Vulcans by 1967. The Thor force and the Mk 1 Bloodhound squadrons (to be the future core of the Royal Air Force) were all gone by 1963 without replacement.
And is it such a contrast to today? The V-Force peaked at 144 bombers, the UK F-35 force will peak at 138. We have four Trident submarines and a replacement class under design and development, the UK Cold war fighter force shrank to a low of 5 Lightning squadrons at the height of the cold war, we have 5 equivalent Typhoon squadrons going to 7 or 8 and we have two huge 65,000 ton aircraft carriers.
Looking back with rose tinted spectacles can be extremely misleading.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
pr00ne, a good summary but it could also explain the Hastings and Beverley in Service too. Re Bloodhound, remember the BH2 a much more capable missile.
pr00ne,
I'm fully aware of the impact of Duncan Sandys policy on Fighter Defence in 1957 and the subsequent run down. There were many reductions from that time forward, all but one of the airfields taken over my the RAF in Germany, at the end of the war, were handed back by 1961. A period of reduction followed a burst of expansion you might say. Ever since the overall trend has been reduction often not driven by prioritising military concerns. I'm well aware also that the peak of about 10 Bloodhound Squadrons reached by 1963 were down to a single squadron in 1965. These were the promised replacements for the missing fighter squadrons. The leap in performance, as you would certainly know, between the type of first generation fighters the Auxilliary squadrons had and that expected by the early 1960s wad indeed a trade off. But the intention was to remove all day fighter squadrons anyway. pr00ne, I'm not looking at the past through rose tinted specs, I think you're a bit to over sensitive to what you think are sweeping opinions with a right wing lean sometimes. I was merely looking back a t the extent of 'development' back at the time and under the economic circumstances. The 144 V-bombers were all delivered in short order, how long do you think til the 138th F-35 is delivered? The two aircraft carriers we're only getting because the contractual obligation the government of the day entered into ensured that cancellation would always be the costliest option. There is nothing from the last 28 years which compares with anything like the V-Force plan.
FB
I'm fully aware of the impact of Duncan Sandys policy on Fighter Defence in 1957 and the subsequent run down. There were many reductions from that time forward, all but one of the airfields taken over my the RAF in Germany, at the end of the war, were handed back by 1961. A period of reduction followed a burst of expansion you might say. Ever since the overall trend has been reduction often not driven by prioritising military concerns. I'm well aware also that the peak of about 10 Bloodhound Squadrons reached by 1963 were down to a single squadron in 1965. These were the promised replacements for the missing fighter squadrons. The leap in performance, as you would certainly know, between the type of first generation fighters the Auxilliary squadrons had and that expected by the early 1960s wad indeed a trade off. But the intention was to remove all day fighter squadrons anyway. pr00ne, I'm not looking at the past through rose tinted specs, I think you're a bit to over sensitive to what you think are sweeping opinions with a right wing lean sometimes. I was merely looking back a t the extent of 'development' back at the time and under the economic circumstances. The 144 V-bombers were all delivered in short order, how long do you think til the 138th F-35 is delivered? The two aircraft carriers we're only getting because the contractual obligation the government of the day entered into ensured that cancellation would always be the costliest option. There is nothing from the last 28 years which compares with anything like the V-Force plan.
FB
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
FB, the rapidity of the build up of the V Force was to meet the threat of the time. The Lincoln was truly obsolete and the V bombers were two generations ahead. The step change, Buccaneer, GR1, GR4, Typhoon, to F35, are not, I submit as big a step taking decades compared with a decade. The threat from the 1980s has evolved more slowly.
Yes quite PN, I was merely reflecting upon the effort at brand new construction and revolutionary development in such a short space of time together with the rather unhealthy state of the economy. pr00ne points to things like the wind up (or down) of the auxiliary air force, well ok but this was against a back drop of a much larger and in depth capable force. The assets to which pr00ne refers to in the present are upgrades which have been in the pipe line since I still had dark hair and so did Tony Blair! What I find astonishing about today is, the various upgrades and improvements probably squeeze a lot more wedge out of the treasury for their over run over due delivery. And pr00ne is slightly off target comparing five Lightning squadrons with five Typhoon squadrons, the former were the pure interceptor force of the UK until 1969, the latter are almost the entire RAF air combat capability today. They are if you like, the V-Force, offensive air support, Tactical Air Superiority, anti-ship and armed reconnaissance, certainly will be by March next year when the last of the old Tonkas get loaded on the back of the scrap collectors low loader. How is the USMC getting along with the Harriers we gave them?
FB
FB
