Royal Air Force Research Articles

The Spirit of the Service: Dash, Discipline, and Flying Accidents in the Royal Australian Air Force, 1921–48

From its establishment in 1921, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attracted political and public critique for flying accidents. This article explores how its nascent institutional ethos developed in relation to a problematic safety record. Military aviators were expected to balance airborne “dash” against obeying flying orders, risking castigation if they proved either too timid or too reckless. Despite vigorous attempts to isolate their service from scrutiny, Air Force leaders were forced to adapt the RAAF's safety culture in response to civilian expertise, media pressure, political machinations, and comparisons with other air arms — particularly Britain's Royal Air Force. Through the 1930s and the Second World War, responsibility was increasingly channelled toward individual personnel. Tactics included severe punishments, signed attestations that confirmed compliance with orders and an “endorsement” system that permanently recorded infractions in errant flyers' log books. These measures risked producing timorous and inadequately skilled pilots, unprepared to exploit their aircraft's capabilities to the full. In 1945, the establishment of a Directorate of Flying Safety profoundly changed the RAAF's institutional safety culture, but its accident record remained problematic. Over 1921–48, the “sweet spot” between initiative and dependability eluded the RAAF's quest to inculcate an enduring “spirit of the service”.

Generic and Cost effective framework for Space Threat Assessment for Emerging Space Economies

Modern-day satellites can be considered mini-computers orbiting the earth, with their own operating systems, customized software, navigation and processing units, in-built memory, and other optical and communication capabilities. Gone are the days when satellites were huge in size, with systems and sub-systems taking several months to a few years to be manufactured, assembled, tested, and launched depending on the mission. A wide variety of technological developments in the past decades, including miniaturization of systems and subsystems, availability of space-qualified and commercially-off-the-shelf (COTS) components, and the advent of application-specific integrated chips (ASICs) have paved the way for an increase in quantity and quality of space-based systems, thereby enabling a wide variety of missions even for emerging space economies. With the growing number and complexity of satellites, there have been multiple recorded instances of attacks that have happened on space and ground-based systems over the last three decades. For example, in 1986, the Galaxy I satellite uplink was disrupted by a suspicious person from Florida under the pseudonym "Captain Midnight". In 1997, computers belonging to the X-ray astrophysics section of the Goddard Space Flight Center campus were compromised. In 1998, the ROSAT X-RAY satellite co-owned by the United States and Germany was hacked. One of the satellites from the military communication system Skynet - owned and operated by the UK's Royal Air Force was hacked. As we enter the space age, it is important to note that many countries, including underdeveloped nations, utilize satellites for various earth-based and space-based applications, military recon missions, interplanetary missions, and all other types of space exploration. Given the extent of utilization, it is crucial to tackle the threats facing space-based and ground-based systems. Some developed and space-faring nations like the USA, Russia, China, the UK, etc., have counter-space capabilities at present to tackle a wide variety of threats. On the other hand, countries like India, Iran, Australia, New Zealand, and UAE, which are still new or emerging players in the new space industry, are still developing their systems to be robust enough to tackle space-based and ground-based threats. At the farther end are countries like Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Norway, etc., which are still developing their space capabilities. In this concise abstract, we present an overview of the myriad security threats encountered by both space-based and ground-based systems. Additionally, we introduce a generic and cost-effective threat assessment framework designed to evaluate these threats across diverse scenarios. This mission-agnostic framework, along with its brief methodology, serves as a foundational tool for identifying security vulnerabilities and formulating comprehensive risk mitigation strategies tailored to specific missions. In the subsequent full-length article, we delve deeper into the complexities of space security, exploring real-world examples, emerging challenges, and innovative solutions.

M-FISH evaluation of chromosome aberrations to examine for historical exposure to ionising radiation due to participation at British nuclear test sites

Veterans of the British nuclear testing programme represent a population of ex-military personnel who had the potential to be exposed to ionising radiation through their participation at nuclear testing sites in the 1950s and 1960s. In the intervening years, members of this population have raised concerns about the status of their health and that of their descendants, as a consequence. Radiation dose estimates based on film badge measurements of external dose recorded at the time of the tests suggest any exposure to be limited for the majority of personnel, however, only ∼20% of personnel were monitored and no measurement for internalised exposure are on record. Here, to in-part address families concerns, we assay for chromosomal evidence of historical radiation exposure in a group of aged nuclear test (NT) veterans, using multiplex in situ hybridisation (M-FISH), for comparison with a matched group of veterans who were not present at NT sites. In total, we analysed 9379 and 7698 metaphase cells using M-FISH (24-colour karyotyping) from 48 NT and 38 control veteran samples, representing veteran servicemen from the army, Royal Airforce and Royal Navy. We observed stable and unstable simple- and complex-type chromosome aberrations in both NT and control veterans’ samples, however find no significant difference in yield of any chromosome aberration type between the two cohorts. We do observe higher average frequencies of complex chromosome aberrations in a very small subset of veterans previously identified as having a higher potential for radiation exposure, which may be indicative of internalised contamination to long-lived radionuclides from radiation fallout. By utilising recently published whole genome sequence analysis data of a sub-set of the same family groups, we examined for but found no relationship between paternal chromosome aberration burden, germline mutation frequency and self-reported concerns of adverse health in family members, suggesting that the previously reported health issues by participants in this study are unlikely to be associated with historical radiation exposure. We did observe a small number of families, representing both control and NT cohorts, showing a relationship between paternal chromosome aberrations and germline mutation sub-types which should be explored in future studies. In conclusion, we find no cytogenetic evidence of historical radiation exposure in the cohort of nuclear veterans sampled here, offering reassurance that attendance at NTs sites by the veterans sampled here, was not associated with significant levels of exposure to radiation.

The UCL Institute of Archaeology Air Survey Photographs: an archaeological reference collection of Royal Air Force aerial imagery from 1918–39

The UCL Institute of Archaeology Air Survey Photographs: an archaeological reference collection of Royal Air Force aerial imagery from 1918–39

THE VOICES OF THE WAR (“EPITAPHS OF THE WAR” BY R. KIPLING)

THE VOICES OF THE WAR (“EPITAPHS OF THE WAR” BY R. KIPLING)

Ted Hughes, the Goddess and ‘An Alchemy’

Two of the books Ted Hughes took with him when he worked as a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter plotter during his two years of compulsory national service, were Robert Graves’s The White Goddess and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Both, he read closely and often. He was already familiar, through his interest in the magical preoccupations of W. B. Yeats, with the philosophy of Hermetic Neoplatonism which had made its way to England during Shakespeare’s time and influenced the work of poets like Sir Philip Sidney, Gabriel Harvey and Edmund Spencer. All of these poets believed in, and used, the alchemical power of poetry which, as Sidney wrote in his Defence of Poetry, could ‘hold children from play, and old men from the chimney corner. And pretending no more, doth intend the winning of the mind from wickedness to virtue’. This, and his immersion in Shakespeare’s work (which as Sylvia Plath told her mother, he ‘knew by heart’) led Hughes to discern a developing pattern, based on the transformative powers of the Goddess, through which he believed Shakespeare was performing a complex alchemical process. He expounded this theory in detail in Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being, but almost twenty years earlier he had written the poem ‘An Alchemy’ for a limited edition anthology published in 1973 by the Globe Theatre Trust. ‘An Alchemy’ is a difficult and allusive poem in which nothing is spelled out. In this article, I look at just one section of the poem in which Hughes created his own alchemical matrix through which he sought to reveal the underlying alchemical theme that he saw as the ‘Gold’ in Shakespeare’s work.

The distribution of near point of convergence, near point of accommodation and their association with interpupillary distance in young adults- A cross sectional study

Vergence dysfunctions and accommodation anomalies are the main causes of asthenopic symptoms. These may be related to differences in the anthropometric measurements.The anthropometric measurements have a significance in understanding human physical and physiological variations. This study was carried out with the purpose of measuring the near point of convergence (NPC), near point of accommodation (NPA) and to determine their association with interpupillary distance (IPD) in a population of North-western India.This was a cross sectional study carried out on young adults of 18-22 years age group. The NPC and NPA were measured with a Royal Air Force (RAF) scale. Distance IPD was measured with a ruler and autorefractometer. The results were analysed statistically to study the relation of the variables with each other.The average IPD of the study population was 62.18 mm, IICD was 29.65, NPC was 6.55 cm, NPA was 9.42 cm. The correlation between IPD and IICD was 0.15 (weak). The correlation between IPD and NPC was found to be 0.18, correlation between IPD and NPA OD was 0.35 and the correlation between IPD and NPA OS was 0.30, which all were statistically weak.The anthropometric measurements of the study population were similar to those reported by other studies on the Indian population. The correlation between NPA and IPD and that between NPC and IPD was found to be weak.

Dizziness Directly Influences Postconcussion Symptoms and Is Predictive of Poorer Mental Health in UK Military Personnel: A Retrospective Analysis.

To investigate the contribution of dizziness to postconcussion symptoms, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) service, Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Stanford Hall. Two hundred eighty-three UK military personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Airforce, Royal Marines, and British Army. A retrospective analysis of data from the Ministry of Defence medical records database. Sixteen-item Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, The Dizziness Handicap Inventory. Injuries from sports or falls were the most common mechanism of mTBI, accounting for 23%, respectively. Chi-square analysis indicated that individuals with dizziness and postconcussion symptoms (PCS) had greater severity of PCS, depression, and anxiety than those with PCS alone. Mediation analysis showed dizziness directly and independently influenced the severity of PCS, despite the indirect effects of mediating depression and anxiety symptoms. Comorbid dizziness and PCS were predictive of poorer mental health compared with PCS alone. In addition, dizziness directly influenced the severity of PCS irrespective of the indirect effects of mental health symptoms. These observations suggest that treating dizziness with vestibular rehabilitation may improve PCS and mental health.

Jodhpur and the aeroplane: aviation and diplomacy in an Indian state 1924-1952.

This paper is a study of the intersection between aviation and diplomacy in the semi-autonomous Indian state of Jodhpur in the final decades of British colonial rule in India. Jodhpur's Maharaja Umaid Singh established a major international aerodrome, patronized one of India's first flying clubs and collaborated with British authorities to make aviation laws for the Indian states. He would also serve in the Royal Air Force during the war and placed Jodhpur state's aviation resources at the disposal of the king-emperor. This paper argues that Jodhpur was able to leverage its aviation resources to wield substantial influence both within and beyond the British Empire through both war and peace. An analysis of Jodhpur's engagement with aviation diplomacy is also revealing of some of the limitations as well as possibilities for the deployment of science diplomacy frameworks, especially in non-Western contexts.

Editorial: Toyota Production System practices asFast‐and‐Frugalheuristics

Editorial: Toyota Production System practices as<scp>Fast‐and‐Frugal</scp>heuristics

Against All Odds

Against All Odds

"Answers that Belonged to Life": C.S. Lewis and the Origins of the Royal Air Force Chaplains' School, Cambridge

Excerpt: "In an earlier age, when the strength of the nation was tested to its limits, RAF chaplains and others gathered in Cambridge for instruction, refreshment, retreat, and spiritual renewal. While many of the most significant Christian luminaries of the age were engaged to lecture at the school, some were clearly more effective than others. Of these, Lewis appears to have offered chaplains a measure of clarity when it was most needed. He gave them answers that belonged to life. And while his contributions to the war effort could hardly be considered meritorious by the admittedly high standards of the day, they were carried out effectively and faithfully at a time when the demands arising from Lewis’ numerous responsibilities as a scholar, academic, and writer were not inconsiderable."

John David Hunt. 12 December 1936—8 December 2012

John Hunt was a scholar of the solidification of metallic alloys, and published seminal works that are of influence today in the design of alloy casting, welding and additive manufacturing processes. John was raised in the West Country of England, and following school did National Service in the Royal Air Force. He entered the University of Cambridge in 1957, being awarded an honours BA in metallurgy in 1960, and a PhD for studies of solidification of eutectic alloys in 1963. John met Ann Carroll during his Cambridge studies; they married in 1961 and later had three children. From 1963 to 1965 John carried out research with Ken Jackson at Bell Laboratories, New Jersey, USA. They published groundbreaking papers on solidification and pioneered the use of transparent organic analogues. John returned to England and, following a year working at the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell, he joined the faculty at the University of Oxford in 1966. During a 36-year academic career at Oxford, John made significant contributions to the scientific understanding of solidification on many topics, including dendritic array growth, eutectic and peritectic solidification, the columnar-to-equiaxed transition and twin roll casting. As well as being a talented experimentalist, he published many groundbreaking theoretical analyses and also pioneered the use of numerical methods for the simulation of solidification phenomena. He was an accomplished educator of undergraduate and postgraduate students, and a fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford. John was a family man, and kept geese and pigs, grew apples and made legendary cider at his old farmhouse home north of Oxford.

Suicide rates in the UK Armed Forces, compared with the general workforce and merchant shipping during peacetime years since 1900

IntroductionThe main objective was to compare suicide rates and their trends across the three UK Armed forces (Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force) from 1900 to 2020. Further objectives...

A ‘Polyphonic Score’: Basil Bunting’s Persian Condensations

Abstract In 1932, Basil Bunting was lodging with the Pounds in Genoa when he first encountered a French manuscript translation of Abul-Qasem Firdausi’s classical Persian epic the Shahnameh (1010). Upon realizing that the manuscript was incomplete, Bunting decided there was ‘nothing to do but learn Persian and read Firdausi, so I undertook that’. By 1942 his knowledge of Persian was good enough for the Ministry of Information to send him to Iran with the Royal Airforce, at which point he toured the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Africa. Through these travels, and in particular his time in Iran, he discovered renewed possibilities for his personal and poetic life. His engagement with classical Persian literature over the 1940s was extensive and allowed him to eventually compose masterful translations of canonical classical Persian poets. I argue that his later translations, especially those written from 1947, demonstrate how translating Persian poetry refined Bunting’s Poundian poetics of condensation. I show that this synthesis produced formally and generically pluralistic poems that straddle multiple cultures, such as Odes 35 (1947) and 36 (1948). Through an analysis of The Spoils (1951), I explore the way in which Bunting’s own poetry was inflected by the Arabo-Persian ‘bait’ such that its literary traditions were made resonant with Anglophone ones. I then conclude by illustrating how the translations, the later odes, and The Spoils enabled him to write his irreducibly multiple magnum opus Briggflatts (1965).

Exploring the role of virtual reality in military decision training

Introduction: Simulation methods, including physical synthetic environments, already play a substantial role in human skills training in many industries. One example is their application to developing situational awareness and judgemental skills in defence and security personnel. The rapid development of virtual reality technologies has provided a new opportunity for performing this type of training, but before VR can be adopted as part of mandatory training it should be subjected to rigorous tests of its suitability and effectiveness.Methods: In this work, we adopted established methods for testing the fidelity and validity of simulated environments to compare three different methods of training use-of-force decision making. Thirty-nine dismounted close combat troops from the UK’s Royal Air Force completed shoot/don’t-shoot judgemental tasks in: i) live fire; ii) virtual reality; and iii) 2D video simulation conditions. A range of shooting accuracy and decision-making metrics were recorded from all three environments.Results: The results showed that 2D video simulation posed little decision-making challenge during training. Decision-making performance across live fire and virtual reality simulations was comparable but the two may offer slightly different, and perhaps complementary, methods of training judgemental skills.Discussion: Different types of simulation should, therefore, be selected carefully to address the exact training need.

The 2022 monkeypox outbreak: A UK military perspective.

With the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and now monkeypox, the UK Defence Medical Services have been required to provide rapid advice in the management of patients with airborne high consequence infectious diseases (A-HCID). The Defence Public Health Network (DPHN) cadre, consisting of closely aligned uniformed and civilian public health specialists have worked at pace to provide evidence-based recommendations on the clinical management, public health response and policy for monkeypox, with military medicine and pathology clinicians (primarily infectious disease physicians and medical microbiologists). Military environments can be complicated and nuanced requiring specialist input and advice to non-specialists as well as unit commanders both in the UK and overseas. DPHN and military infection clinicians have close links with the UK National Health Service (NHS) and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), allowing for a dynamic two-way relationship that encompasses patient management, public health response, research and development of both UK military and national guidelines. This is further demonstrated with the Royal Air Force (RAF) Air Transport Isolator (ATI) capability, provided by Defence to support the UK Government and UKHSA. Military infectious disease clinicians are also embedded within NHS A-HCID units. In this manuscript we provide examples of the close interdisciplinary working of the DPHN and Defence clinicians in managing military monkeypox patients, co-ordinating the public health response, advising the Command and developing monkeypox policy for Defence through cross-government partnership. We also highlight the co-operation between civilian and military medical authorities in managing the current outbreak.

Changes in physical performance during British Army Junior Entry, British Army Standard Entry and Royal Air Force Basic Training

IntroductionThe purpose was to quantify physical performance in men and women during British Army Junior Entry (Army-JE), British Army Standard Entry (Army-SE) and Royal Air Force (RAF) basic training (BT).DesignProspective...

Effect of sex and combat employment on musculoskeletal injuries and medical downgrading in trained military personnel: an observational cohort study

IntroductionFollowing the opening of all combat roles to women across the UK Armed Forces, there is a requirement to understand the risk of injury to these female personnel. Women injure...

Oxygen Sense: Creating Embodied Knowledge to Promote Health Innovation in the Royal Air Force, 1939-45.

Chambers that simulate low-oxygen environments saw use by many of the world's air forces during World War II, yet the hypobaric chamber played an equally important role in rapidly adapting air force personnel's cultural mentality and behavior. Behind its German and American rivals in the field of aviation medicine, Britain's Royal Air Force distinctively mobilized the hypobaric chamber to aid its European bombing campaign, shaping aircrew into crude oxygen detectors long before the wide use of cabin pressurization and electronic sensing technology. Physiology, often overlooked by historians, can be usefully reinserted into the story of the world's air forces, taking inspiration from recent histories of technology on the suitability and malleability of human behavior to fit complex systems. "Oxygen sense" shows how embodied knowledge of hypoxia was promoted because it swayed oxygen skeptics. Embodied knowledge eased the integration of aircraft technology with human respiration to become a routine component of flying practice.