Howard Gethin/LONDON
UK Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Harrier squadrons are to be reorganised into new combined strike wings for the services' new carrierborne Joint Force 2000 (JF-2000), in a move that represents the closest co-operation between the two services in decades.
The merger of the Harrier forces is a precursor to the joint procurement and operation of the Future Carrier-Borne Aircraft (FCBA) intended to replace the RAF's Harrier GR7s and RN's Sea Harrier F/A2 aircraft in around 2012. The Joint Strike Fighter remains the most likely candidate for FCBA, but the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter 2000 and Boeing F-18E/F are possible contenders.
The establishment of the force will begin in April 2000 when a maritime group is formed within RAF Strike Command, under an RN officer, the current Flag Officer Naval Aviation, with two RAF Air Commodores as deputies.
The RN's Sea Harrier force will move from RNAS Yeovilton in 2003, the training squadron (899) moving to RAF Wittering, where it will merge with the RAF's Harrier training squadron (20R) to form a joint operational conversion unit, which will eventually move to RAF Cottesmore in Norfolk.
The two front-line Sea Harrier units, (800 and 801) will deploy to RAF Cottesmore, which will eventually be home to the entire JF2000 Harrier/FCBA force at an undetermined future date. The RAF's last two Germany-based Harrier squadrons will return to the UK later this year.
The force will eventually consist of four front-line squadrons of 12 aircraft in two air wings, to be based on the RN's two future aircraft carriers, which are scheduled to enter service around 2012. Each wing will have one "RAF heavy"and one "RN heavy" squadron. Although the services will have separate role emphases while operating Harriers and Sea Harriers - because the latter is more optimised for the air-to-air role - there will be considerably more overlap when a common aircraft is operated.
The establishment of the new force is an important cultural change for two services that have traditionally had strong rivalries, exacerbated by the vociferous argument over the cancellation of the RN's last large carrier project, known as CVA01, in favour of purchasing F-111s for the RAF in the late 1960s. Both services are now keen to stress that a new era of co-operation is under way.
Source: Flight International
