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Home > History and Technology
History and Technology
Introduction
Formed in 1918, the RAF is the oldest independent air force in the world. Today, it’s both one of the largest and most technically advanced.
With Altitude, you can be among the first to hear about new RAF technologies, uncover exciting periods of RAF history and hear personal stories from real RAF personnel.
We’ll be adding new features and stories to this section, so be sure to visit regularly to find out what’s new.
RAF 90th Anniversary
On April 1 the RAF celebrated its 90th anniversary. Our timeline shows just some of the people, places and aircraft that make its history of hard work, high technology and heroic service truly special.
RAF Sea King
The RAF Sea Kings fleet operates out of six locations around the UK. These include RAF Leconfeld, RAF Chivenor, RAF Valley. Each location supports two aircraft.
RAF Hawk
The Hawk 128 – the RAF’s favourite training aircraft
In July 2003 the Hawk 128 was selected as the new Advanced Jet Trainer (AJJ) for UK Armed Forces. It is used to train aircrew for the Harrier, Tornado, Typhoon and the future Joint Combat Aircraft.
History
Philip Bundock joined the RAF 60 years ago at the age of 18. After training he worked as a Clerk managing the payroll system for all of the RAF. He also found he was a good shot and represented RAF Cottesmore in shooting competitions. Philip talked us through how some things were when he was in the RAF and how they are now.
HARRIER TECH SPEC
The Harrier – a first for the RAF
The current GR9/9AHarrier is a heavily upgraded version of one of the most versatile aircraft ever developed. The Harrier has a firm place in avionic history, having played a key role in the RAF which was the first air force in the world to use jump jet technology.
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