Head Of The RAF Praises Military Action In Syria

The Head of the Royal Air Force has praised the skill and professionalism of the aircrews involved in last weekend's strike on suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier was speaking in Washington as part of a week of events to mark RAF 100.

The Chief of the Air Staff held a joint conversation with his American Counterpart.

They were there to celebrate the 100th Birthday of the Royal Air Force - a relationship full of shared heritage and respect.

But as they praised their longstanding coalition in the air, the subject of last weekend's British, American and French joint air strikes in Syria was raised.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier said:

“I was absolutely confident, based on the decades of experience working together, that it would go as well as it did.

“It is hugely important to recognise the skill and professionalism of our air and ground crew.”

Many of those in the audience oversee an officer exchange programme between RAF and US Air Force and most have deployed side by side with British personnel. Tim Tippet, Country Director in the UK for the US Department of Defense said:

“The RAF has 36 exchange officers throughout the air force- those personnel provide a foundation to our bilateral relationships.”

The British government published its Combat Air Strategy just a month ago, stressing the importance of international relationships to supremacy in the skies.

It’s future threats that both air force chiefs now want to address, according to Sir Stephen:

“It’s about exploiting disruptive technology, it’s about making information our life-blood as an organisation and connecting all of those platforms together using artificial intelligence, using human-machine interfaces. “

This talk in DC about the value of the special relationship and its importance to air power couldn't have come at a more pertinent time.

There was tough talk on Syria from both service chiefs, but also talk about the need of both air forces to stay ahead of the game, working to counter threats which might not even exist yet.