After the financial crash of 2008 the Royal Air Force was faced with shrinking budgets. In his fascinating lecture, the then Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, summarises historical events when the RAF had to adapt to changing threats during periods of austerity, including the Iraqi Uprising just after World War I, the Berlin Airlift and the Cold War. He also shows how flexibility, the ability to deploy rapidly and work with international and industrial partners were crucial to the RAF's success in more recent conflicts such as Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

With lessons from history in mind, Sir Stephen turned to the challenges that faced the RAF at the beginning of the 2010s, stressing the need to balance operations in Afghanistan with the need for homeland defence and the security of NATO. Amongst other factors, he argued that Command and Control had to be flexible and new technologies, such as the use of UAVs and simulation, needed to be adopted as conflicts arise in different scenarios and the balance of power changed, both on the battlefield and in cyberspace.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton FRAeS gave the Royal Aeronautical Society’s 98th Wilbur & Orville Memorial Lecture on 10 December 2009. The lecture was introduced by the then President, Dr Mike Steeden CEng FRAeS, and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

The material and information contained in this lecture are UK Ministry of Defence © Crown copyright 2009 and the recording is the copyright of the Royal Aeronautical Society 2009.