Join the RAF for the real thing, Xbox teens are told
TEENAGERS playing on their Xbox at home should take their gaming to the next level and join the RAF to operate real drones, the head of the air force said yesterday.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier said the RAF’s next 100 years will see a huge shift towards unmanned flying machines as he outlined plans for centenary celebrations.
Warplanes will go on tour this year as part of RAF100 to mark 100 years of the Royal Air Force and commemorate those who have selflessly defended the nation’s interests.
The celebrations include a flypast and parade on the Mall and a service attended by the Queen and other Royals, as well as a baton relay visiting 100 RAF-linked sites in 100 days. RAF chiefs hope by showcasing their military might they will inspire young people, including women and ethnic minorities, to join the force.
Sir Stephen said children learn skills from computer games that can be applied to serious warfare. RAF sources pointed to the game Call of Duty in which teenagers operate Predator drones and have to address challenges akin to the real battlefield before executing their attack.
Sir Stephen, who got a flying scholarship when he was 18, said young ‘gamers’ can go to the next level in the RAF.
He said: ‘It is not gaming that we do, but a lot of the skills, the ability to fuse data, to have that situational awareness, to understand the environment, those are skills which help build them up.
‘A lot of them want to take it to that next level. This is the really serious end. I don’t think we should underestimate the importance of giving those young people that sense of purpose, that sense of direction, that service.’
RAF sources said the service predicts up to one-third of the UK’s combat aircraft will be unmanned in the future compared to 5 per cent today. They want recruits for UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles – typically UKbased but operating over warzones – and pilots for the new F-35 supersonic stealth fighters.
Sir Stephen said: ‘We attract across the full breadth of society. We directly recruit young men and women into the RAF to be remotely piloted air system operators. They are that vital part.
‘We don’t talk about drones because that implies you’ve got these unthinking capabilities. People are absolutely at the heart of that unmanned capabilguests. ity, it just happens to be an unmanned platform. It is very heavily intensive on the human element.’
He said future warfare will see many more unmanned jets fighting in the skies.
The first RAF100 event will be a Royal Albert Hall concert on March 31. On April 1 the baton relay commences to mark the date the service was founded in 1918.
The main event will be on July 10 when there will be a service in Westminster Abbey attended by more than 2,000 They will include the Queen and politicians as well as chiefs of air forces and ambassadors of more than 700 countries, and some 500 veterans and 750 serving members of the RAF and their families.
One hundred members of the public and veterans are being invited to bid for tickets to attend Westminster Abbey and a further 500 for a centenary reception. Up to 100 aircraft will take part in a flypast over Buckingham Palace.
An exhibition of nine aircraft representing the history of the RAF will be on Horse Guards Parade square from July 6-10.
A tour featuring both models and real warplanes, including Spitfires and Tornados, will visit six major UK locations.
And as part of RAF100, primary and secondary school children will be taught how to break codes and use computing and maths skills to create a flight plan for drones.
Sir Stephen said the legacy of RAF100 will be a ‘launch pad into our next century’. He said the RAF would ‘ignite young people’s passion for air, space, and cyber... demonstrating that we are, as we have always been, a dynamic engine of social mobility’.
‘Take it to the next level’