Royal Air Force Aircraft & Weapons

Fundamental to everything the RAF tries to achieve is the equipment we have at our disposal, much of which relies on world-beating, cutting-edge high technology that has been tested in conflict. It is this equipment that when operated, maintained and supported by highly professional personnel, makes the RAF a truly potent deliverer of Air Power.

In defence of our airspace at home and abroad, the Tornado F3 maintains our Quick Reaction Alert with the ASRAAM missile, which is the most up-to-date and effective air-to-air missile deployed anywhere in the world.

The next generation air-to-air missile, the Meteor, a fire-and-forget missile, will give the RAF a further significant advance in missile capability when it enters service early in the next decade. The combination of Typhoon and Meteor will defeat all current and projected air-to-air threats for the foreseeable future.

For expeditionary operations overseas, the backbone of the RAF’s offensive aircraft is the recently upgraded ground-attack version of the Tornado, called the GR4, which carries a comprehensive suite of sophisticated weapons and equipment. Also in this role is one of the RAF’s most versatile combat aircraft, the Harrier GR7. In time, the Harrier GR7 will be updated with new engines and avionics and will be redesignated the GR9. Looking even further ahead, the GR9 will be replaced with the Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing variant of the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter, which will incorporate stealth technology and is capable of carrying twice the payload of a Harrier, over twice the distance.

As well as upgrading aircraft, the RAF is buying a new range of offensive weapons, which combine pinpoint accuracy with a very high survivability rate. One such weapon is Storm Shadow, which was highly successful during the recent hostilities in Iraq. As well as providing improved operational capability, these precision weapons will reduce greatly the risk of collateral damage and civilian casualties.