Maritime Patrol Aircraft Operations Since 1945

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Little h
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Maritime Patrol Aircraft Operations Since 1945

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The Cold War Cinderella Service: RAF Maritime Patrol Aircraft Operations Since 1945
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Dec 20

By Group Captain Rob O’Dell

This article was first published in Air Power Review RAF100 Special Edition Volume 21 Number 2, Summer 2018. For more articles on air power visit our website.

Abstract: ‘The Cinderella Service’, a phrase coined to describe Coastal Command during World War Two, is perhaps equally apposite when applied to RAF Maritime Operations in the post war period owing to the lack of public recognition of these often clandestine operations. Despite often being the only RAF force ‘in daily contact with the enemy’, there is little acknowledgement, even today, of the unforgiving and dangerous operations conducted off the coast of the British mainland in defence of UK interests. This article provides an overview of the activities of the ‘Kipper Fleet’, from the nadir immediately following World War Two until the capability was withdrawn from service in 2010.

Introduction
We were the only…[RAF]…force in daily contact with the enemy…outside our magic circle, few people really knew the technological battle being fought daily many miles off the UK west coast…’ RAF Nimrod Navigator.[1]

Coastal Command was known as the ‘Cinderella Service’ in World War 2 for the way its endeavour and achievements were largely eclipsed by Bomber and Fighter Commands. Sadly, this lack of recognition for RAF maritime operations has arguably persisted up to the modern day. Yet the operational challenges faced by Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) crews have been every bit as constant, varied and challenging as their counterparts from other operational communities.

Emerging from World War 2 as a highly capable and experienced organisation, Coastal Command’s maritime capacity was largely centred on US ‘lend-lease’ types. However, post-War austerity dictated an extremely rapid contraction on the cessation of hostilities and Coastal Command immediately found itself much as it was at the outbreak of war, lacking a suitable land–based Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) to augment its flying boats. After its interim use of Lancasters, the Shackleton entered service alongside the US Neptune in the early 1950s. These types handled the bulk of activity during the early Cold War years in roles which were as varied as they were geographically dispersed. The Berlin airlift, Korea, policing of colonial outposts and use in a secondary trooping role were all to the fore. Yet poor equipment, developmental problems with the Shackleton and attempts by the RN to seize Coastal Command assets from the RAF hampered maritime capabilities. Moreover, these challenges were faced as the Soviet Navy transitioned from being an essentially coastal force to one capable of delivering true ‘blue-water’ effect.

By the 1960s, the last of the RAF’s Sunderland flying boats had finally been retired and the Shackleton formed the cornerstone of Coastal Command’s capabilities. Meanwhile, the threat from Soviet surface and sub-surface combatants had developed to the point where it was capable of threatening strategic UK and NATO interests. This dictated expanded cooperation with the US and other NATO members as a new, highly secret and unforgiving technological battle evolved to track Soviet submarines. For Coastal Command, much of this occurred on long sorties over Arctic, Atlantic and Mediterranean waters. Simultaneously, however, RAF MPAs were proving equally essential to the UK’s divestment of its Empire. Yet once again, politics complicated the search for a new MPA before the Nimrod MR1 entered service just as its parent organisation was absorbed into the new RAF Strike Command.

After distinguished service throughout the 1970s, the Nimrod proved essential during the Falklands War of 1982, and following the end of the Cold War, the RAF found itself returning to MPA operations beyond the traditional realm of NATO. In this new unstable world, RAF MPAs found themselves being employed in increasingly varied Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C2ISR) roles to support UK ground forces. However, the reduced Russian naval threat increasingly brought into question the need for an ageing UK MPA fleet. Significant development problems with the Nimrod MRA4 and government focus on land-centric operations in Iraq and Afghanistan saw the Nimrod MR2s retired and the MRA4 Programme cancelled in 2010, leaving the RAF without a dedicated MPA for the first time in its history. Thankfully, the Service now finds itself on the verge of reintroducing the capability from 2019 in the form of the P-8 Poseidon. Against a resurgent Russian naval threat, we can expect to see the ‘Kipper Fleet’ rapidly re-establish itself as a central pillar of UK Defence.

This essay seeks to provide an overview of post-war RAF MPA operations, in this case defined as fixed wing Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) (including general surface surveillance and Maritime Radar Reconnaissance (MRR)) and Search and Rescue (SAR) activity. Against a variety of political, technological and operational factors, the disproportionate significance of post-war RAF maritime operations to the RAF remains poorly acknowledged. The modern aircrew branch structure and the Service’s position within Joint operations were all heavily influenced by Coastal Command requirements and broader RAF maritime operations. As the initial UK P-8 enters final production in 2018, the regeneration of the RAF’s Maritime Patrol fleet will see the Service re-enter the secretive battlespace. Although small in number in comparison to their Typhoon and F-35 counterparts, the RAF P-8 force will be no less important to our Nation’s interests.

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If that has got your interest ... then read on here and take in the following chapters:-

1945–1960: A NEW WORLD ORDER

1961–1981: SUBMARINE THREAT ASCENDANT

1982–2015: OUT OF AREA AND OUT OF SERVICE

CONCLUSION
Little h
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ivorthediver
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Re: Maritime Patrol Aircraft Operations Since 1945

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Thank you Harry, a fascinating and in depth report on an area of activity only to easily forgotten and thus ignored .

I took your advice and read it in its entirety .....

I can guess at what piqued your interest without out to much trouble , and can see why ;)

I well written and succinct look at the subject , penned by one in the know 8-)

Well spotted and thoroughly enjoyed , kind regards [ see we dont always disagree do we ;)]....

A pleasure to read a subject that does not rely entirely by bloody " Tweets" and regurgitated third hand drivel :roll: My sincere thanks and appreciation
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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Little h
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Re: Maritime Patrol Aircraft Operations Since 1945

Unread post by Little h »

ivorthediver wrote: Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:23 pm Thank you Harry, a fascinating and in depth report on an area of activity only to easily forgotten and thus ignored .

I took your advice and read it in its entirety .....

I can guess at what piqued your interest without out to much trouble , and can see why ;)

I well written and succinct look at the subject , penned by one in the know 8-)

A pleasure to read a subject that does not rely entirely by bloody " Tweets" and regurgitated third hand drivel :roll: My sincere thanks and appreciation
Thanks for kind remarks Ivor.

The piece was brought to life on this occasion by a Tweet :) ......see:-


NavyLookout @NavyLookout on Twitter

Interesting article about the history of RAF Maritime Patrol Aircraft, in particular Nimrod operations during the Falklands War and Cold War ASW
Little h
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ivorthediver
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Re: Maritime Patrol Aircraft Operations Since 1945

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Well that must stand out as an idiosyncrasy then Harry ....but at least one in isolation unlike the posts we are getting drowned in with lists of them resembling a bloody menu on each post .......can't they compile a post yet :?: :?:

Yes the section to which you refer was a real eye opener wasn't it , I had know idea of that surveillance either ;)
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
Brian James
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Re: Maritime Patrol Aircraft Operations Since 1945

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A Breguet Atlantique 2 Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft overflies Horizon Class Frigate FS Forbin and Zeven Provincien Class Frigate HNLMS De Ruyter,Straits of Hormuz..2020.
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