- In this book, the history and utility of land- and carrier-based strategic airpower is brought to life by the gallant exploits and photographs of B-17 aircraft “Quittin’ Time” and of its Navigator, “Fred” Julian in the Second World War, and by the courageous and unswerving dedication of “Sharkey” Ward’s Sea Harrier team in the Falklands war.
- Highlights from the book:
- An authoritative analysis of strategic air power illustrated with a fine collection of photographs, some of which have never been seen before in print.
- Indicts Whitehall for ignoring eight decades of military history, paying lip-service to Strategic Maritime Policy, and investing extortionate sums in land-based tactical fighter aircraft.
- Shows how the RAF misled Ministers, resulting in misguided reductions in the Royal Navy’s global power projection capability.
- Examines how the United States Eighth Air Force, with its B-17s and P-51 Mustang fighters, waged a successful war against Nazi war machine targets, not against population centres.
- Discusses how the RAF carpet bombing of German cities would now be considered a war crime and had little effect at the time on Hitler’s ability to wage war.
- This compelling book completes a trilogy of books by Sharkey Ward that charts the unwarranted neglect by the UK government of the Royal Navy and its global power projection capability, which for decades has depended upon aircraft carrier battle groups and the embarked fixed wing squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm. Verbal support for the U.K.’s Strategic Maritime Policy has not been translated into adequate funding for the same by the Ministry of Defence.
- The neglect has been fashioned by unjustified, false claims by the Royal Air Force concerning the global reach of land-based tactical fighter aircraft for air defence of the fleet beyond the NATO area, e.g. the Falklands air war. These claims have never been demonstrated/come to fruition but have resulted in exorbitant investment in short range, land-based tactical air power that is incapable of policing and defending the global trade routes upon which the UK depends for its prosperity and security.
- The ongoing severe disruption to international trade through the Red Sea by Iran-funded Houthi militants/terrorists is testament to the fact that RAF Typhoons are unable to provide 24/7 air defence of military and merchant shipping transiting this choke point. Supported by air-to-air refuelling from Akrotiri, Cyprus, a handful have managed to reach Yemen and deliver a small number of bombs against undefended targets, but this is hardly a substantial cost-effective return for the £100 billion Typhoon program. Clearly, that money should have been invested in the Fleet in line with declared Strategic Maritime Policy.
- Amidst the ongoing chaos within the Ministry of Defence during this tense period of global instability, our Royal Naval top brass continues to assure the public that all is well with the Fleet despite concrete evidence to the contrary. Are they being gagged by the Government or are they incompetent when it comes to fighting the naval cause?
- The overarching message is that the strategic airpower lessons of the past eight decades underpin the urgent need for the UK government to invest more wisely in its Fleet so that the latter may work effectively in conjunction with the US Navy on the global mission to deter those that would harm us, and to maintain the freedom of passage of all shipping throughout the global commons. The authors show how a maritime deterrence strategy in a challenging world is critically underpinned by strategic air power at sea and on land.
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