Anglo-American strategic air power co-operation in the Cold War and beyond

Air & Space Power Journal, Winter, 2004 by Christopher Finn, Paul D. Berg

Editorial Abstract: Air power co-operation between the Royal Air Force and US Air Force serves as an excellent model of successful coalition relations and reflects the evolution of current concepts such as expeditionary air power and effects-based operations. The authors trace strategic air power relations between the United States and United Kingdom since World War II, explaining how past experience has shaped today's alliance.

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BRITISH AND AMERICAN Airmen have been co-operating extensively in the field of strategic air power since before World War II when shared endeavours, such as the Combined Bomber Offensive against Nazi Germany set a precedent for close partnership. After World War II, the Cold War framed air power relations between the two countries, and the Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Air Force (USAF) were the key players. The Cold War shaped the relationship until about 1990, but the two services continue to enjoy an exceptionally close affiliation today. Anglo-American air power co-operation serves as an excellent model of successful coalition relations and reflects the evolution of current concepts such as expeditionary air power and effects-based operations.

The Anglo-American alliance is perhaps the ultimate example of a "coalition of the willing," but why have British and American Airmen had such an enduring propensity to work together? On one level their friendship has reflected the long-term political alliance between their two countries based on shared strategic interests. Within alliances, British and American Airmen have pooled their resources to oppose common enemies ever since they fought the Central Powers in World War I. The Axis was their common foe during World War II, and the Soviet Union filled that role during the Cold War. However, the Anglo-American air power relationship transcends opposition to shared enemies. In today's complex world, foes are less clearly defined, yet the two air forces still integrate their operations closely. Several factors might help account for the ongoing rapport. Simple force of habit is one possible explanation. The services have co-ordinated closely for so long that they became habituated to working together. Personal friendships may be another contributing factor. Generations of Airmen have served together and formed close bonds during exercises while stationed in each other's countries. Personnel-exchange tours have long been a staple of the relationship between the two air forces. A common language has also facilitated friendly relations. Yet none of these explanations really accounts for the depth of the special relationship between British and American Airmen. The RAF-USAF partnership has experienced vicissitudes over the years but, like a healthy marriage, has weathered the storms. As both nations seek coalition partners today and in the future, their Airmen can profit from a retrospective study of their affiliation.

This article will examine Anglo-American strategic air power relations since World War II by considering the areas of planning and operations, organization and basing (particularly of US units in the United Kingdom), equipment (especially aircraft, missiles, and munitions), and finally joint training. However, the term strategic air power requires clarification. During the Cold War the idea that "strategic meant nuclear" was prevalent, but US-UK air power activities have shown the limitation of that notion. (1) The United States has indeed often stationed nuclear-capable bombers and missiles at British bases since the 1940s. In a remarkable display of trust, the United States even equipped the RAF with bombers and, later, nuclear weapons whilst the United Kingdom built its own nuclear capabilities. Today's Airmen understand that the term strategic refers not to particular weapon systems, but to the level of effects those systems produce. This article discusses air and space power capable of producing effects that "influence activities at the strategic level of war and focus on national and multinational military objectives." (2) For example, today's RAF and USAF doctrines recognize the 1948-49 Berlin airlift, a combined Anglo-American operation, as an example of how non-combat air operations can produce strategic effects. (3) Indeed, non-combat activities such as training and equipment have been central to US-UK air power co-operation since World War I. As Sebastian Cox explains in his article in this journal, America provided training bases for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) (renamed the RAF in April 1917) in return for British equipment and assistance with squadron combat work-ups of US Army Air Service squadrons on the western front in 1917 and 1918. (4) First World War co-operation set the precedent for Second World War co-operation, when, for four years, the RAF and the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) worked together in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and finally, the invasion of Europe. The so-called strategic air forces--Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force--started working together in 1942 on what came to be called the Combined Bomber Offensive. The Visiting Forces Act of 1942 established the wartime status of US forces in the United Kingdom and was eventually followed by other agreements.