From RAF Boulmer to the Middle East: Air C2 Force that controls the skies explained

The Air Command and Control Force, usually shortened to Air C2 Force, is one of the RAF's least visible formations, but one of its most important. 

It conducts 24/7 air command and control of the UK, assigned Nato airspace and overseas locations, while also providing tactical air command and control, air traffic and airspace management for air assets in the UK and abroad. 

It is based at RAF Boulmer in Northumberland and at NATS Swanwick in Hampshire.

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What's the role of the Air C2 Force?

This is the force that helps turn radar feeds, radio traffic and surveillance data into a usable picture of what is happening in the sky. 

Its operators monitor aircraft, identify unknown tracks, support Quick Reaction Alert tasks and help direct military air activity safely through crowded airspace. 

19 Squadron, the frontline tactical Air C2 unit at Boulmer, provides persistent air surveillance and tactical air command and control for Nato and UK air defence tasks as well as deployed operations worldwide.

Meanwhile, 20 Squadron trains personnel for tactical Air C2 roles, and 144 Signals Unit maintains and deploys the engineering backbone that supports the system across the UK. 

At Swanwick, 78 Squadron provides air traffic control, airspace management, air defence resilience and other enabling functions from inside the London Area Control Centre run by NATS

What is the history of the force?

The work has roots in Britain's wartime air defence network, where radar and fighter control were used to detect threats and direct aircraft. 

RAF Boulmer has had an RAF presence since 1940 and was selected in 1953 for a new air defence control centre during the Cold War, later developing into both a Sector Operations Centre and a Control and Reporting Centre.

The technology has changed, but the job has not. The RAF's Guardian system at Boulmer combines radar and radio data into a real-time map to help protect the UK from aerial threats, while the force's role now stretches beyond home defence. 

Currently, deployed Air C2 Force personnel are supporting coalition air defence in the Middle East, helping coordinate activity in congested regional airspace.