The Various Roles of RAAF (1971)

Stated formally, the roles of the RAAF are six in number:
- 1. to defend Australia, its territories and Australian forces against air attack;
- 2. to maintain an air striking capability against enemy forces and installations;
- 3. to provide strategic and tactical air reconnaissance, including maritime air reconnaissance for the Australian forces;
- 4. to provide strategic military air transport support for the Australian forces;
- 5. to provide close offensive and tactical transport support for the Army;
- 6. to provide anti-submarine support in conjunction with the Royal Australian Navy.

There are always two elements in air defence: static air defence and counter air operations by strike aircraft. Static air defence is provided by manned interceptor fighter aircraft, at times augmented by surface-to-air missile systems and gun defences, all operated under a radar control and reporting
system. Such static defences can be organised effectively but they are, of course, localised to the area of control established by radar and to the range of fighter aircraft.

It will be obvious that in a country the size of Australia it is only possible to provide such protection for a very limited number of key points even in an area of potential threat. Complementary to, and indeed of much greater importance than, the static air defence are the counter air strike forces. The
aim of these forces is to take out the enemy's air threat at its source by the destruction of his aircraft and supporting installations at their home airfields; aircraft on the ground, on the runways, or even in protective revetments are rewarding targets for air attack, providing the correct weapons are used.

The way the Israelis used their strike aircraft in the six-day war in 1967 to destroy the Arab air forces on the ground is well known. An earlier and, from an Australian point of view, a more important example, was the destruction of Japanese air power in New Guinea and the adjacent islands during 1943-44 when the Japanese air forces were almost completely destroyed in a limited number of low level attacks against aircraft on airfields.

The RAAF's current air defence-tactical fighter is the Mirage III. The Mirage is a Mach 2 high-performance aircraft, most capable as an air superiority fighter and also in the tactical interdiction and close support roles. The Mirage as an air superiority fighter is as good as, and in most instances better than, any potential enemy's aircraft deployed in South-East Asia. The RAAF has four squadrons of Mirages; two are deployed at Butterworth in Malaysia and two are deployed in Australia.

I have discussed the need for air strike aircraft in the counter air role. The other main requirement for an adequate air striking capability is the task of interdiction. It is a task, not only of great importance in the defence of Australia, but one which will always be pertinent to army operations. To some extent the importance of interdiction has tended to become obscure in the two most recent wars in which Australian land forces have been engaged; in Korea and in South Vietnam.

The main reason has been that the most profitable areas of enemy territory for carrying out an interdiction campaign have been held to be inviolate on political grounds and, thus, the efforts of the air interdiction campaign have been negated. No airman would consider individuals, carrying stores on an 'A Frame' or wheeling them on bicycles, to be profitable or indeed possible targets for air attack. Had it been possible to extend the interdiction campaign to the major stores, holdings and concentration areas across the Yalu River, on the one hand, or into Hanoi or Haiphong on the other, the interdiction story would certainly have been different.

In any war involving the active defence of Australia or New Guinea against external attack, it must be obvious that there are wide areas for interdiction in the islands to the north of this country. Successful interdiction by our naval and air forces would be the best means of preventing an enemy concentration against our shores.

Examples of successful air interdiction campaigns that I will recall to the reader's memory are those in North-West Europe immediately prior to and after the Normandy landings and the naval and air interdiction of Rommel's supply route from Italy to North Africa where, undoubtedly, lack of resources prevented film from exploiting his gains.