Colegiul Dobrogean “Spiru C. Haret” Realizat de: Ana-Simona Dumitru Clasa a XII-a D Profesor coordonator: Violeta Ivanof - 2013 - Table of contents 1 British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, officially Her Majesty‟s Armed Forces and sometimes known as the Armed Forces of the Crown, are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Armed Forces encompass three professional uniformed services: The Naval Service, including The Royal Navy and Royal Marnes, The British Army and The Royal Air Force. The Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty‟s Armed Forces is the British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, to who members of the forces swear allegiance.Under British constituional law, the armed forces are subordinate to the Crown, however this power is qualified by the requierment for parliamentary consent to the maintaining of a standing army. Under the Bill of Rights (1689) no standing army may be maintained during time of peace without the consent of Parliament, which nowadays is given every five years by passing an Armed Forces Act. The armed forces are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence, headed by the Secretary of State for Defence. The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and Crown Dependencies, as well as promoting Britain‟s wider security interests and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations, as well as party to the Five Power Defence Arrangements. Today The British Armed Forces is a professional force with a strength of 184.160 regular and 35.190 volunteer reserve personnel, being the second-largest military force in the European Union. Furthermore, United Kingdom constantly fights for maintaining its position as one of the world‟s top military powers, as well as being one of NATO‟s top military forces. Command organisation As Sovereign and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is Head of the Armed Forces and their Commander-In-Chief, to whom the military personnel swear allegiance. Long-standing constituional convention, however, has vested de facto executive authority, by the exercise of Royal Prerogative Powers, in the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Defence, which make the key decisions on the use of the armed forces. Responsibility for the management of the forces is delegated to a number of committees: the Defence Council, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Defence Management Board and three single- service boards. The three constituent single-service committees, Admiralty Board, Army Board and Air Force Board, are chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the Armed Forces and is an appointment that can be held by an Admiral, Air Chief Marshal or General. The CDS, along with the Permanent Under Secretary, are the principal advisers to the departmental minister. The three services have their own respective professional chiefs: the First Sea Lord, the Chief of the General Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff. 2 Services Branches Naval service The Naval Service consists of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Reffered to as the “Senior Service” by virtue of its being the oldest service within the British Armed Forces, The Royal Navy is a technologically sophisticated naval force, consisting of 78 commissioned ships and around 170 aircraft. Command of deployable assests is exercised by the Commander-in-Chief Fleet, who also has authority over Royal Marines and the civilian Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Personnel matters are the responsibility of the Second Sea Lord, an appointment ussualy held by a vice-admiral. The United Kingdom‟s nuclear deterrent is carried aboard the navy‟s Vanguard-class of four ballistic-missile submarines. The infantry component of the Naval Service is the Corps of Royal Marines and it consist of a single manouvre brigade (3 Commando) and various independent units. Royal Marines specialise in amphibious, arctic and mountain warfare. The 19 commissioned ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary primarily serves to replenish Royal Navy warships at sea and also augments the Royal Navy‟s amphibious warfare capabilities through its three Bay0class landing ship dock vessels. British Army The British Army is made up of the Regulr Army and Territorial Army. The army has a single command structure based at Andover and known as “Army Headquarters”. Deployable combat formations consist of two divisions and eight brigades. The core of the Army is the 50 battalions of regular and territorial infantry, organised into 17 regiments. The majority of infantry regiments contains multiple regular and teritorial battalions. Modern infantry have diverse capabilities and this is reflected in the varied roles assigned to them. There are four operational roles that infrantry battalions can fulfil: air assault, armoured infrantry, mechanised infrantry and light role infantry. Royal Air Force The royal Air Force has a large operational fleet that fulfils various roles, consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The royal Air force operates multi-role and single-role fighters, reconnaissance and patrol aircraft, tankers, transports, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and various types of training aircraft. Ground units are also maintained by the Royal Air Force, most prominently the RAF Police and the RAF Regiment. 3 Role of the British Armed Forces Peacetime Security: To provide forces needed in peacetime to ensure the protection and security of the United Kingdom, to assist as required with the evacuation of British nationals overseas, to afford Military Aid to the Civil Authorities in the United Kingdom, including Military Aid to the Civil Power, Military Aid to Other Government Departments and Military Aid to the Civil Community. Security of the Overseas Territories: To provide forces to meet any challenges to the external security of a British Overseas Territory or to assist the civil authorities in meeting a challenge to internal security. Defence Dimplomacy: To provide forces to meet the varied activities undertaken by the Ministry of Defence to dispel hostility, build and maintain trust, and assist in the development of democratically accountable armed forces, thereby making a significant contributon to conflict preventon and resolution. Peace Support and Humanitarian Operations: To contribute forces to operations other than war in support of British interests and international order and humanitarian principles. Regional Conflict Outside the NATO Area: To contribute forces for a regional conflict which, if unchecked, could adversely affect European security or which could pose a serious threat to British interests elsewhere or to international security. Regional Conflict inside NATO Area: To provide forces needed to respond to a regional crisis or conflict involving a NATO ally who calls for assistance under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. Strategic Attack on NATO: To provide, within the expected warning and readiness preparation times, the forces required to counter a strategic attack againts NATO. 4 Royal Air Force Motto: Per Ardua Ad Astra – „Through Adversity to the Stars‟ History of RAF Origins The Royal Air Force is the world‟s oldest independent air force being the first air force to become independent of army or navy control. It was founded on 1st of April 1918 with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. After the war, the service was drastically cut and its interwar years were relatively quiet, with the RAF taking responsibility for the cotrol of Iraq and executing a number of minor actions in other parts of the British Empire. Naval aviation in the form of the RAF‟s Fleet Air Arm was returned to Admirality control on 24th of May 1939. The RAF developed its doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became the basic philosophy in the Second World War. Second World War The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War. Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed "Article XV squadrons" for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from these countries, and exiles from occupied Europe, also served with RAF squadrons. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the German Luftwaffe, helping foil Hitler's plans for an invasion of the United Kingdom, and prompting Prime Minister Winston Churchill to say in the House of Commons on 20 August, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few". The largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. While RAF bombing of Germany began almost immediately upon the outbreak of war, under the leadership of Air Chief Marshal Harris, these attacks became increasingly devastating from 1942 onward as new technology and greater numbers of superior aircraft became available. The RAF adopted night-time area bombing on German cities such as Hamburg and Dresden, and developed precision bombing techniques for specific operations, such as the "Dambusters" raid by No. 617 Squadron or the Amiens prison raid known as Operation Jericho. 5 Post-war The Royal Air Force was involved in the 1948 Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Between 26 June and the lifting of the Russian blockade of the city on 2nd of May, the RAF provided 17% of the total supplies delivered during event, using Avro Yorks, Douglas Dakotas flying to Gatow Airport and Short Sunderlands flying to Lake Havel Years 1960-1970 The British Government elected on 16th of February 1960 to share the country‟snuclear deterrent between the RAF and submarines of the Royal Navy, deciding on 13th April to concentrate solely on the air force‟s V bomber fleet.