ROYAL AIR FORCE
THE UK ’ S RAF IS DRIVING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WITH RAFX AND ASTRA – THE CAMPAIGN TO BUILD THE NEXT GENERATION ROYAL AIR FORCE
The Royal Air Force ( RAF ) was born from technological transformation . The UK ’ s air force formed in 1918 and became the world ’ s first independent air force , playing a famous role in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War while also pioneering technology from radar to the bouncing bomb and jet engine .
The RAF has played a key role in keeping citizens of the UK safe and continues to innovate to maintain that protection – tackling new cybersecurity threats and digitising processes while also keeping pilots and commanders one step ahead of any potential enemy .
RAF eXperimental – or RAFX – is the innovation hub of the RAF . It ’ s an ongoing and evolving mission largely taking shape in North Yorkshire at RAF Leeming – the perfect testbed for new technology and processes and unique in that it has representation from every Group in the Service . RAF Leeming is also home to 90 Signals Unit – the largest communications unit in the RAF .
The fact that the base is also a closed environment (“ behind the wire ”) also means it is ideal for testing technology in a closed , controlled environment .
Group Captain Blythe Crawford OBE is Station Commander at RAF Leeming , a position he has held since November 2018 following a tour as RAF exchange officer within the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force ’ s Strategic Studies Group in Washington .
He is now the driving force behind RAFX and Astra – the campaign to build the Next Generation Royal Air Force . He is empowering airmen with bright ideas to turn those into something tangible via RAFX .
“ The challenge that we have is that we are still quite set in our ways and trying to run a fifth-generation air force with 1990s processes and technologies ,” admits Crawford . “ What we want to do here at Leeming is unleash , empower and enable our people to maximise their full potential and create the Next Generation Air Force .”
150 January 2022