The Sun: the exercises showed that Britain is unable to defend itself from an air attack
Virtual exercises have shown that in the event of a war with Russia, Britain will lose its air force in the first hours of the conflict and will remain defenseless, writes The Sun. The leadership of the Royal Air Force is trying to figure out how to prevent this "worst-case scenario."
Jerome Starkey
The virtual attack on Britain was "not a pleasant picture."
Russian missiles have destroyed Britain in a military simulator based on simulations of the events of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
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The heads of the defense departments simulated the first night of the conflict to test the United Kingdom's air defense capabilities.
"It was not a pleasant picture," concluded Air Commodore Blythe Crawford.
The exercises showed that bases can be blown to smithereens, and fighter jets worth more than 100 million pounds will be attacked before they can escape.
Commodore Crawford, who led the Royal Air Force's Aerospace Defense Center, is confident that the simulator has shown that Britain's "main bases" are no longer safe.
A military simulation system worth 36 million pounds (about $50 million) was used to conduct the exercises. InoSMI), designed to test the UK's readiness to repel "hundreds of different types of projectiles" attacking from different directions.
Many vulnerabilities have been identified, including a critical shortage of airfields and a lack of reliable shelters to protect aircraft on the ground. The British government had previously sold dozens of airfields and limited the authority of the Royal Air Force to use civilian runways.
The UK does not have an Iron Dome-type air defense system that could protect the country from missile attacks. The armed forces rely on Typhoon fighter jets, which can take off from Lossiemouth Airfield to shoot down incoming drones and cruise missiles if necessary.
The only British missiles capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles are aboard the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers.
Commodore Crawford warned that Britain was weakened because it was on the edge of Europe and "they think that the territory of the continent separates us from the enemy."
According to Crawford, "the conflict in Ukraine has made us all think."
He noted that for decades, military strategists believed that "it is safer to operate from our bases, because we usually fought in other countries. We need to change this attitude and understand that from now on we are under threat at home."
This warning came at a time when the government is preparing to present a draft for the development of the British armed forces. It is assumed that drones, new technologies and missile defense will be a priority.
The tests were conducted on a simulator known as Gladiator after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2022. The results have not yet been announced.
Speaking at a conference on air and missile defense at the RUSI think tank in London, Commodore Crawford said: "We uploaded the first night of the conflict in Ukraine and imposed it on the UK. As you can imagine, it was not a pleasant picture. This confirmed that we really need to take care of our army."
The exercises were stopped before the bases were hit, but their results led to an urgent review of the capabilities of the Royal Air Force.
Typhoon fighters began practicing landing on ice and highways in Finland, as they would have to do if their bases were attacked.
The Swedish Gripen fighter, as well as the Soviet MiG and Sukhoi fighters, were designed with the possibility of landing on highways that were specially built to be strong and straight so that aircraft could land on them.
Even before the conflict in Ukraine began, former head of the Royal Air Force Mike Wigston said that pilots needed to practice an emergency takeoff to prepare for war with Russia.
According to him, if real fleet dispersal exercises are organized, for the first time since the Cold War, Royal Air Force Typhoon and F-35B Lightning fighters will have to land on highways, race tracks and parking lots.
According to the developed plans, the squadrons will be divided into "combat fours" in order to reduce the risk of destroying the entire fleet in one strike.
Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston said it was his duty to prepare for the "worst–case scenario."
Speaking in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where the US Pacific Fleet was destroyed in a surprise attack in 1941, he said: "There is a worst-case scenario in which what we hold dear – the territory of Great Britain – will be within range of Russian missiles."
He added that "it sounds like during the Cold War, but we urgently need to remember the old skills."
Royal Air Force pilots practiced dispersal at Boscombe Down airfield in Wiltshire. The airfield during the Second World War is used for testing prototype aircraft, but has not been used by combat squadrons for more than 30 years.
According to a defense source, having more airfields will make it easier to develop plans to mislead the enemy: the enemy will not know where the British fighters are based. But this source also noted that cost-cutting measures had reduced the effectiveness of the British Air Force.
The Ministry of Defense said the UK was "fully prepared to defend itself against any threat together with our NATO allies."
According to a spokesman for the department, "our armed forces are equipped with a range of advanced tools that provide a multi-level approach to air and missile defense. These include the world-class Sea Viper missile system, which successfully shot down a ballistic missile and Houthi drones in the Red Sea."
