Commonwealth Air Force
| Commonwealth Air Force | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1919 - present |
| Country | Arthurista |
| Allegiance | Commonwealth Defence Forces |
| Branch | Air Force |
| Size | 90,000 active, 40,000 reserve |
| Motto(s) | Per Ardua ad Astra |
| March | Battle March of the CAF |
In theory, the Commonwealth Air Force is the main aerial warfare branch of the Commonwealth Defence Forces. It is, traditionally, the most neglected of the Commonwealth Defence Forces' three arms of services. Given the nation's maritime focus, and the penchance of its military planners to rely on surface-to-air missiles and ballistic missiles for air defence and deep strike respectively, the Commonwealth Air Force has compete with the more prestigious Fleet Air Arm for scarce resources.
Nevertheless, CAF provides significant capabilities to the CDF which the navy is unable to deliver. While the fleet operates strike aircrafts, CAF's land based heavy bombers offers far heavier offensive capability in terms of both payload and range, as well as playing a complementary role to maintaining sea superiority when equipped with anti-ship missiles.
Recently, Fighter Command has sought to replace its multitude of models with two high performance multirole fast jets: the 4.5 generation Tempest FGR.2/3, which will be deployed in bulk as the backbone of the air force, and a smaller number of 5th-generation UFC F-29 Hurricane fighters as a 'silver bullet' force for the most dangerous and demanding missions. The resulting savings in logistical and maintenace requirement ought to enhance the overall operability and readiness of Arthurista's fighter squadrons.
Fighter Command
The title 'Fighter Command' is a holdover from the 1930s. In reality, it is responsible for all tactical fast jets in the CAF's arsenal. The aircrafts it flies can roughly be divided into three categories: heavy fighters and interceptors, lightweight fighter-bombers and long range strike aircrafts.
In line with CDF's strongly defence-oriented setup, the focus of Arthuristah fighter designs has always been short-field performance and the ability to operate in a dispersed manner and take off from roads, enhancing the resilience of Arthuristan air power in the event of a full scale invasion of the island.
Bomber Command
CAF's Bomber Command commands the strategic bomber force, with a fleet based on the Continental Imperator. The Bomber Command was once the primary deliverer of Arthurista's strategic deterrent, before this role was taken over by the Commonwealth Navy. It also plays a vital part in supporting the Commonwealth's conventional forces by carrying out close support, deep strike and maritime strike operations.
Support Command
This branch is primarily responsible for logistics and transportation. Various variants of the Arthuristan Dynamics Centaur remain the mainstay tactical airlifter. The main strategic airlifters is the Globemaster.
Air Defence Command
Since the CAF is responsible for the strategic air defence of the nation, it is armed with numerous batteries of surface to air missiles independent to those of the army's. As of early-2014, its main weapons are the Scutum long range anti-ballistic missile, variants of the AD-12 Area Defence Missile, the Arrow anti-ballistic missile and the Lyran Skyguard.
Commonwealth Air Force Regiment
The CAF Regiment administers all ground forces which directly belong to the CAF. The majority of these are light infantry 'squadrons' (companies) used as force-protection units for airfields and other vital ground installations. It also trains the forward air controllers organic to each of the Commonwealth Army forward observation teams.
The CAF Regiment also commands two special operations units: the Ground Intervention Group and the Assault Retrieval Group. The former is tasked with providing specialist joint terminal air control and targeting support for Arthuristan special operations, whereas the latter is a specialist unit tasked with combat search and rescue operations.
Aircraft inventory
Fighter Command
- 90 x Arthuristan Dynamics Cyclone (No longer in active service - in reserve)
- 272 x UFC Tempest
- 242 x Arthuristan Dynamics Fury
- 110 x Strike Fury
- 40 x UFC F-29 Hurricane, additional 72 aircraft on order, with option for more)
- 36 x Arthuristan Dynamics Whirlwind (part of the Joint Jump Jet Force shared with the Fleet Air Arm)
Bomber Command
Electronic Warfare Command
- 32 x Mercury ECR
- 27 x Glaucus ASaC.2
- 5 x Global Hawk
- 4 x Centaur E.1
- 5 x Centaur JSTARS
- 3 x Centaur TACAMO
Coastal Command
- 36x Majestic Glaucus
Support Command
- Anchelli Pelican
- Arthuristan Dynamics Centaur
- C-27J Spartan
- A330 MRTT refueller
- Arthuristan Dynamics Centaur K.1 refueller
- Beechcraft Super King Air light utility aircraft
Reconaissance Command
- 12 x NOVA Drone (replaced 10x Predator's leased from the Belfrasian Air Force
- 5 x Global Hawk
- 2 x Arthuristan Dynamics Firestorm prototypes
Training Command
- 60 ADE Hawk
- 60 Short Tucano
Munitions
Air-to-air
- ASRAAM
- Python-3 (phasing out)
- AIM-120 AMRAAM (phasing out)
- ABVRM Comet
Gravity bombs
- Paveway-II (being phased out)
- ACM-9 Asmoday
- BL755 Cluster bomb (phasing out)
- JP233 anti-runway weapon
Land/surface strike missiles:
- ACM-1 Cerberus long range cruise missile
- ACM-2 Renove anti-ship missile and land-attack cruise missile
- ACM-3 Bune heavy air-launched strike missile (in limited service)
- ACM-13 Lilith
- Scorpion missile
- AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation weapon
- Matra Durandal anti-runway weapon
Ballistic Missile Defence
- AD-12 Area Defence Missile (terminal defence)
Historical Aircrafts (post-1945)
Fighters
- Greenwich Meteor
- De Havril Vampire
- Greenwich Gryphon
- Greenwich Super Tigress
- Greenwich Lightning
- Continental Reaper
- Arthuristan Dynamics Kestrel
- Aigios Ifrit
Strike
Bombers
AEW&C
- Avro Shackleton
- Fairey Gannet AEW.3 and AEW.7
- P.139B