The Royal Air Force was formed in 1918 to provide the airborne element of the UK's armed forces and over the course of nearly 90 years its role has developed and expanded. Today the RAF defends the UK’s air space against unwanted intruders as well as giving British forces rapid global reach, and employing airpower to perform a wide range of tasks to achieve the UK's defence objectives. These include defence of the UK and our allies from aggression, promoting British interests abroad and helping to maintain international peace and stability.

As the twentieth century progressed airpower became ever more important in achieving these aims. Recent conflicts such as those in the Gulf, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan have proved that airpower can provide a vital contribution. The advantage of airpower over land and sea forces is primarily the speed with which it can deploy to anywhere in the world, and the protection it can afford forces once air superiority has been achieved.

Offensively, the RAF uses a variety of advanced aircraft to deliver highly accurate weapons onto enemy targets, and conducts extensive reconnaissance, a task for which aircraft were first used in warfare, allowing enemy positions and territory to be correctly identified. The RAF directly supports all our forces, wherever they are, by providing transport and airborne firepower and protection.

These are probably the better known roles of the RAF but equally important are the activities the RAF carries out on the ground. The aircraft come in all shapes and sizes from fast jets, through to large airlifters and a diverse range of helicopters. However, none of these aircraft can operate on its own – each requires a vast range of support equipment and, crucially, well trained and dedicated people, including those with considerable engineering skills.

The RAF employs personnel in more than 50 trades including air traffic control, communications engineering, logistics support and as the RAF’s own soldiers - the RAF Regiment.  The use of ever more complex and capable equipment will ensure that the Royal Air Force’s need for high quality personnel will be even more important than in the past.

The vast majority of these RAF personnel work in skilled areas on the ground, involved in challenging tasks including the development and purchase of new aircraft and equipment, operating and maintaining the equipment already in service and providing the myriad of support services required to keep a large, modern organisation working at home and abroad.  Engineering skills are crucial to these tasks.

The final piece of the jigsaw is training, linking the people to the technology and environment vital to the RAF. The RAF provides extensive, high quality training to all its people, allowing them to do the best job they can serving the country whilst offering a satisfying, well-paid, long or short-term career. It is the combination of advanced technology, skilled people and quality training which has allowed the RAF to be so successful over its 89 year history, and personnel with strong engineering qualifications will ensure that successes of the past continue into the future.

It is for this reason the RAF supports the annual “Schools Aerospace Challenge” and looks forward to the “Team of the Year” presentation and award ceremony in November.