Chief of the Air Staff: RAF Must Be Bold in Advancing its Combat Air Capabilities

Air Chief Marshal Smyth said that as the UK faced 'a dangerous and a volatile age', his priority was to ensure the RAF ‘could fight tonight’, and that the service offered both a 'shield' and a 'punch'.

Drawing on the legacy of Lord Trenchard, he described the early RAF as 'the UK's original tech startup’ and called on the service to revive that mindset to help deliver the sixth-generation air force required to meet the changing character of war. He said this force would need to be AI-centric, data-driven and digitally connected, teaming crewed and uncrewed platforms.

Noting that uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft would add affordable mass to current crewed systems, he said the new uncrewed StormFighter concept demonstrator could fly as early as next year.

He said: 'The time to act on this is now. We must act quickly, and we must be bold.'

He added: 'Managed correctly, AI can be better than a human. The trick is to operate alongside a human to make them greater than the sum of the parts.'

He said: 'I would argue strongly that the modern paradigm must now become autonomy, not flesh.'

Chaired by RUSI Senior Research Fellow Justin Bronk, the lecture was attended by many guests, including the grandson of the first Viscount Trenchard.

Air Chief Marshal Smyth closed with a call for urgent advancement of capabilities: 'There is much, much to do and time is pressing. So please, let’s get on with it.'

RUSI Members can access the recording below.