ROYAL AIR FORCE
performance engine here at Leeming and we beta test it to death on the station until we refine it into exactly what we want . At that point , it is then ready to be scaled across the rest of the service .”
Astra is all about creating the Next Generation Air Force – an Air Force that can surpass the wider technological advancements happening in society . Crawford uses the analogy of the Red Queen problem from Alice in Wonderland where you have to run as fast as you can just to stay in the same place , but run even faster if you want to go somewhere else .
“ That ' s the challenge we have in today ' s Air Force ,” admits Crawford . “ Technological advancement in wider society is moving at an incredible pace and for us to keep up with it we need to change our cultural mindset about how we adopt those new technologies and processes , how we keep up with the digital transformation that the rest of society is going through , and keep at the forefront of that to create the Next Generation Air Force .”
Group Captain Martin Brockie is the commanding officer of 90 Signals Unit which is responsible for providing the Royal Air Force with the freedom of action and mission assurance it needs in cyberspace to enable it to deliver air and space power on behalf of the nation .
“TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT IN WIDER SOCIETY IS MOVING AT AN INCREDIBLE PACE AND FOR US TO KEEP UP WITH IT WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR CULTURAL MINDSET ABOUT HOW WE ADOPT THOSE NEW TECHNOLOGIES ”
BLYTHE CRAWFORD OBE GROUP CAPTAIN , ROYAL AIR FORCE
166 January 2022