Afterburner Book Reviews AIR TRANSPORT LIBERALIZATION

A Critical Assessment Edited by M Finger and K Button

Edward Elgar Publishing, The Lypiatts, 15 Lansdown Road, Cheltenham GL50 2JA, UK. 2017. viii; 391pp. £105. [eBook is priced from £22 from Google Play, ebooks.com and other eBook vendors]. ISBN 978-1- 78643-185-1.

At a time when the world’s largest international In terms of coverage, most of the key markets Liberalisation has led to the trading countries are entering into tariff wars it is are included. It would have benefited from a separate growth of carriers such as easyJet and Ryanair. worth taking stock of what had been achieved over chapter on EU/UK – US liberalisation, with, perhaps London Stansted Airport. the past 20-30 years in terms of free trade in goods Japan – US to give a transatlantic and transpacific and services. Examining one industry – air transport viewpoint. Japan is still one of the largest countries – can show us how far we have come and the huge in world traffic terms, well above Australia which benefits in lower fares and rates that have been merited its own chapter. In Europe a chapter is achieved. This book does just that, with authoritative devoted to Ireland, all other EU countries dealt with in contributions from around the globe. the Europe chapter. The UK, as the largest long-haul The book can be read from beginning to end, point of entry and prime mover within the EU, would The UK, as the although there is little attempt to pull together the surely have justified a chapter of its own. This would various achievements, struggles and outcomes from have revealed the UK’s pro-competitive stance on largest long- around the world. What work is still to be done? On EU routes and more restrictive position on long-haul haul point the other hand, each chapter can be consulted on a routes and markets. of entry, and standalone basis, depending on the reader’s needs. For those wishing to dip into the book, I would prime mover These achievements might also be a reminder recommend the US and India/China chapters (Part to the hard Brexit community that the UK has not I – Chapters 2 and 7), as these include analysis of within the EU achieved these benefits alone but together with the impact of liberalisation on air fares and airline would surely an expanding number of EU partners in the EU’s efficiency respectively. The European chapter (Part I have justified European Aviation Area. Liberalisation has led – Chapter 8) is disappointing and, surprisingly, makes to the establishment and growth of carriers like no mention of charter flights, which were relative a chapter of its Ryanair, matching another outcome of liberalisation, successful on holiday routes under regulation, own Southwest Airlines in the US. Airlines such as especially in two of the largest EU markets: the UK Ryanair can provide these benefits to UK originating and Germany. ‘Topical Issues’ Part II is not always passengers in spite of its registration in a foreign particularly focused on the impact of liberalisation, country, a sticking point for most international but this is evident throughout the book, often looking negotiations. like a collection of some good research papers. Peter Morrell

44 AEROSPACE / MAY 2019 SUSTAINING AIR POWER

Royal Air Force Logistics since 1918 By T Stone

Fonthill Media Limited, Millview House, Toadsmoor Road, Stroud GL5 2TB, UK. 2017. 528pp. Illustrated. £40. ISBN 978-1-78155-635-1.

Wg Cdr Stone has been the Equipment/Supply/ Logistics Branch Historian for some years and this book has been trying to get out of him for a long time. His enthusiasm for the subject is clear, though carefully suppressed to provide as accurate and objective a view of the Branch as possible. The underlying enthusiasm of the writer makes the book an enjoyable and easy read. The book is presented in a slightly curious Above: A Chinook helicopter is loaded into a RAF two-style approach. The first half represents a C-17 Globemaster for the journey back to the UK chronological history of the RAF’s logistics function from Afghanistan. MoD/Crown copyright (2019). throughout the early part of its existence. This Below: A Bristol Bloodhound surface-to-air provides significant interest, in that it shows how guided missile being loaded into RAF Blackburn the Branch arrived at its late 20th century position Beverley C1 XB265. RAeS (NAL). through the general developments encountered – sometimes policy-driven and sometimes resulting from experience – a subject never taught to new entrants. The early history of the Branch is an interesting emergence of a necessary function for the RAF which is often ignored by many but that has been catalogued in a very unbiased way, and the book acts as a useful guide to heritage for the current and future generations of officers and airmen/airwomen. The second half of the book adopts a completely different style, in that it describes the more modern aspects of the Branch’s history, dealing with each of the specialisations as a separate entity that each has its own timeline. Initially, this change of writing style was a little disorientating. However, there are sound reasons for the writer doing so in terms of the available detail and access to live sources for the second half of the book, which were less available for the first. Hence, the book represents useful reference material for those interested in specific parts of the Branch, without them having to wade through other areas. However, in doing so, discussion of general direction and policy changes at higher levels may have been to its breadth of interests. That said, its avoidance This book will partly lost from the second half of the book. of going down narrow tracks (which would be too have resonance This book will have resonance for those with easy to do) has great merit and, while the subject is an interest in the Branch, whether retired, current a minority field of interest, the book highlights the for those with or future. It is thoughtfully written and without too endeavours of one of the key and unsung enablers an interest in much emphasis on personal recollections, although of the RAF throughout the first century of military the Branch, some are effectively used to illustrate developments aviation. whether retired, and operations. As such, Sustaining Air Power will never please everyone, as those involved in the A W Rolfe current or Branch will always have different viewpoints due Wg Cdr (Ret’d) RAF Supply (now Logistics) Branch future

Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com MAY 2019 45 Afterburner Book Reviews THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF UK STRATEGIC NUCLEAR DETERRENT Vol I – From the V-Bomber 1964 to 1970 and covers the change to a Labour Government under Harold Wilson. By this time our Era to the Arrival of Polaris, deterrent had changed from V-bombers, Blue Steel 1945-1964; and ground-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to submarine-launched Polaris ICBMs, so the Vol II – The Labour Royal Navy rather than the RAF were in charge. Government and the Polaris Although most of us were aware of what was going on during the post-WW2 years, reading details Programme, 1964-1970 about what various important people were thinking By M Jones and doing was thought provoking and sometimes at odds with what I expected. To think that certain well- Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2 Park Square, known and fallible humans, in various countries, had a Milton Park, Abingdon OX14 4RN, UK. 2017-2018. hand in controlling the length of our future is sobering. xix; 547pp; xxi; 559pp. £110 per volume [20% Interesting items were discussions about what discount available to RAeS members via www. constitutes ‘deterrence’ – how many V-bombers, the crcpress.com using AKQ07 promotion code]. ISBN arguments for Polaris and how many submarines, the 978-1-138-67493-6; 978-1-138-29206-2. Chancellor saying we could only afford three, Chiefs of Staff saying five, minimum, to keep one continuously The two volumes have a total of over 1,100 pages A Polaris missile launched on station – with the result four were started. from the submerged British Should Polaris be ‘hardened’ ie, decoys and written by the Professor of International History at the nuclear-powered ballistic London School of Economics and Political Science. missile submarine HMS protection of the warheads against anti-ballistic Politics is not my usual reading subject but I found Revenge (S27) off the coast missiles? AWRE, Aldermaston did the nuclear physics them a compulsive story to read. You will be familiar of Florida (US) near Cape but a Division of RAE (Royal Aircraft Establishment), Canaveral Air Force Station. with input from the Navy, RRE (Royal Radar with MAD – Mutual Assured Destruction – and Dr This was the tenth in a series Strangelove will come to mind. The fact that we are of Polaris test flights. US Navy. Establishment) and other establishments and some here to read these volumes shows that it has worked. firms produced a study of the problems and costing There is no doubt, that if nuclear war between East of the necessary programme. There were battles for and West breaks out, Great Britain will not survive as a funding between nuclear deterrents and the General place to live, neither will much of European Russia and Dynamics F-111, a presence East of Aden and all the parts of the US – millions dead, sick and wounded, no usual government items. habitable buildings, no infrastructure and no provisions. A typical international meeting was when The point of MAD is that to start a nuclear war is an President Nixon met the Prime Minister and the act of suicide. President noted that the pillars of Western strength This story is about the politicians, civil servants and As you will were being put to the acid test since fears of the chiefs of staff who were engaged from 1945 to 1970 Soviet Union were tending to decline just as Moscow’s in managing the situation. The author had access to gather, if nuclear strategic forces were catching up with US Government records and was able to interview some you want an numbers and its conventional strength on the ground of the participants to cover the high-level politics. interesting bit was markedly superior. Nixon said that it was vital I was surprised to find it difficult to break off of important that the Europeans should believe in the credibility of reading because it was compiled from extracts from the US nuclear guarantee. Denis Healey said the US files, letters and reports of meetings. Professor Jones history, this will had the right to ask their allies not to involve the US has done a splendid job putting it all together as a fill the bill in a nuclear war for any issue short of a major war in readable story. To give some details, the first of 13 Europe. Later Kissinger told Healey that Nixon and chapter headings are: he thought it was important that the Russians should 1. The making of a deterrent force, August know there was more than one centre of decision – it 1945-November 1957. was not healthy for the US to be the sole nuclear 2. The rise of ballistic missile defence. power in the West – and he had been particularly 3. In the shadow of Sputnik: the nuclear sufficiency struck by the quality of the strategic thinking and the debate and the restoration of Anglo-American views that had come from the UK because of the nuclear collaboration, March 1957-February 1959. practical knowledge that they had of nuclear matters 4. Breaking the impasse? Polaris and future deterrent which had forced them to think about strategy more policy, February 1959-March 1960. clearly than otherwise would have been the case. Further chapters in Volume I deal with the There are commendably few typos, including one cancellation of Blue Streak, Skybolt, the control of ‘Blue Steak’. There is a glossary of abbreviations and a nuclear forces, anti-ballistic missile systems, Nassau, very good index in each volume. Multilateral Force (UK and other countries). Reg Milne As you will gather, if you want an interesting bit of Volume II also has 13 chapters and is from CEng MRAeS important history, this will fill the bill.

46 AEROSPACE / MAY 2019 BOLTS FROM THE BLUE From Cold War Warrior to suggests, a combination of luck and surprise, just as one that misses no opportunity to give praise or be Chief of the Air Staff critical. By Sir Richard Johns As an account of a 40-year period that mirrors the decline of UK influence and military power and Grub Street, 4 Rainham Close, London SW11 6SS, also one that emphasises a deep uncompromising UK. 2018. 352pp. Illustrated. £25. ISBN 978-1- frustration of politicians when they interfere or fail to 911-621-09-6. understand requirements behind strategic defence, this book is unique. Indeed, his dislike of politicians is clear While the intriguing title Bolts from the Blue may and yet, there are also notable exceptions in the form appear to be a rather unusual one for an autobiography of Margaret Thatcher and Labour’s George Robertson, of a former Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) it doesn’t take both of whom he clearly admired. long for the reader of this excellent treatise to realise The latter period of Johns’ career was one in that it is extremely apt in describing the illustrious which those involved were increasingly silenced career in the Royal Air Force of Air Chief Marshal Sir from expressing views and when politicians were Richard Johns. increasingly making strategic defence decisions This fascinating account from a man who joined without proper consultation with military chiefs. This in 1957, an Air Force of 11 commands, 200,000 excellent book should thus be regarded as a ‘no-holds personnel, 188 squadrons and one that had no fewer barred’ account of how defence and strategic priorities than 3,000 aircraft and yet, 43 years later when he lost out in the ongoing race to reduce the cost of retired as its Chief, had shrunk to 55,000 personnel defence. Breaking new ground in its criticism of how working within two commands and 45 squadrons, is as defence had been managed during the 1990s and of much an account of air power development, challenge, how power of the Service Chiefs has diminished, Sir ACM Sir Richard Johns, then adaptation and dramatic change that occurred during Richard makes no apology for his dislike of working in Constable and Governor MoD Main Building. Nevertheless, the detailed insights of Windsor Castle, in and after the Cold War ended with governments procession to St George’s seeking a ‘peace dividend’. of his various commands and deployments before he Chapel, Windsor Castle, Commissioned at RAF Cranwell in 1959 and became CAS in 1997 will make for very interesting for the annual service of the retiring as Chief of the Air Staff in 2000, Sir Richard reading by those now embarked on Air Force careers. Order of the Garter in 2006. Johns’ account of his career spans a period when It is a must read too for all would-be officers moving Philip Allfrey. the Royal Air Force operated from bases spread right through RAF Cranwell, just as it will be for those across Europe, the Middle and Far East. Having set his moving through the Defence Academy at Shrivenham. heart on being a fast-jet pilot and having had long tours Bolts from the Blue talks much about the people Bolts from the in Aden, Oman, Germany and NATO. His period as a that the author served with and the reader is left in no flying instructor, during which time he had responsibility doubt as to how, throughout his long career, Johns Blue is not only for bringing HRH The Prince of Wales to ‘wings worked hard to stand up for the Air Force that he so a long overdue standard’, is an honest and sometimes humorous loved. Embracing the unequivocal fact that technology account from account of working with members of the royal family. enabled reductions in actual capacity, his period as a highly The sense of pride in the RAF runs all the way CAS through the 1997 Strategic Defence Review through this book. Never failing to remember the and beyond provides a rare and detailed account respected vital role played by those in the ‘back office’, such of government approach to defence at that time. In former Chief as engineers and technical staff and the various recounting his one procurement success – that of of the Air Staff, Force Elements involved in protecting RAF assets the RAF receiving four Boeing C-17s even though deployed, such as the RAF Regiment, the book he had wanted 11, he laments that concerns he had its place in provides a fascinating perspective of the RAF through expressed over the viability of the proposed Nimrod documenting the Cold War years and beyond. As a reflection of MRA4 fell on deaf ears in Government. what has been what subsequently emerged, the author’s lamenting Embracing jointery while at the same time fighting a missing piece of change in definition of national defence strategy hard for his people to ensure that the RAF maintained reflecting the essential differences between strategy sufficient levels of capability and skills that it would of air power and policy, to one now defined as deciding how much need for the future, the author laments, that in the history and money is available and then squeezing the armed unremitting search for efficiency savings, some of change will forces to fit within the allocated budget, is one that the principal foundation stones that gave the RAF a clearly needed to be said. permanent structure were removed during his career. be welcomed Bolts from the Blue is not only a long overdue Citing, for example, the loss in 1992 of the Apprentice by students of account from a highly respected former CAS, its place School at RAF Halton and where RAF recruiting used airpower in documenting what has been a missing piece of to take place and also the loss of Staff College at air power history and change will be welcomed by Bracknell, he accepts too that the Air Force he handed students of airpower. The book is an honest, open over to his successor as CAS was less operationally Howard Wheeldon and balanced account of a career that was, as the title effective than the one that he had inherited. FRAeS

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