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Nothing in military history has given the RAF such a hold on the public imagination as the gallant Spitfire and Hurricane pilots of the Battle of Britain.
Sadly in the postwar nuclear world their successors have only been tasked with wartime defence of key military infrastructure in the UK.
It will be interesting to see how the new Government's Strategic Defence Review copes with the Russian use of non-nuclear missiles and drones to terrorise civilian targets in raids similar in aim and scope to the Luftwaffe Blitz of 1940.
During the Cold War it was much more straightforward. In the opening non nuclear phase Soviet aircraft were expected to focus on military targets with only limited damage to civilians in nearby areas. Any mass killing of civilians would be nuclear and receive a similar UK response.
There are no Patriot batteries in the UK at present though a T45 destroyer has similar capabilities.
Sadly in the postwar nuclear world their successors have only been tasked with wartime defence of key military infrastructure in the UK.
It will be interesting to see how the new Government's Strategic Defence Review copes with the Russian use of non-nuclear missiles and drones to terrorise civilian targets in raids similar in aim and scope to the Luftwaffe Blitz of 1940.
During the Cold War it was much more straightforward. In the opening non nuclear phase Soviet aircraft were expected to focus on military targets with only limited damage to civilians in nearby areas. Any mass killing of civilians would be nuclear and receive a similar UK response.
There are no Patriot batteries in the UK at present though a T45 destroyer has similar capabilities.