page_title: Structure of the Royal Air Force in 1989
section_title: RAF Germany
hierarchical_section_title: Structure of the Royal Air Force in 1989 / RAF Germany
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Positionskarte Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Geographische Begrenzung der Karte: English: Location map North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geographic limits of the map: Français&#160;: Carte du land Rhénanie-du-Nord-Westphalie (Allemagne) destinée à géolocalisation. Les limites géographiques sont: Coords↑52.552° N↓50.315° N←5.834° E→9.481° E Open this image as an overlay in Google Earth (Google Maps, Bing)(Help|Source)
context_page_description: At the end of the Cold War in 1989 the Royal Air Force structure was as follows:
  The Chief of the Air Staff was an Air Chief Marshal, who commanded the Royal Air Force. He was a member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, the Defence Council, and the Air Force Board, which administered the Royal Air Force. The following positions were part of the Air Force Board:
  Secretary of State for Defence as Chairman
  Minister of State for the Armed Forces as Vice-Chairman
  Minister of State for Defence Procurement
  Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces
  Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement
  Chief of the Air Staff
  Air Member for Personnel
  Air Member for Supply and Organisation
  Controller of Aircraft
  Second Permanent Under-Secretary of State and Controller R & D Establishments, Research and Nuclear
  The strength of the Royal Air Force in 1989 was 93,300 men.
context_section_description: Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG) consisted of air force units located in Germany as part of the UK's commitment to the defence of Western Europe during the Cold War. In wartime the Air Marshal in command of RAFG would also have assumed the command of NATO's Second Allied Tactical Air Force. RAFG's main missions were to protect the British Army of the Rhine from Warsaw Pact air attacks and bomb hostile armor formation. In case Soviet spearheads would have breached the Weser-line on the Western side of the Upper Weser Valley the RAFG was trained and equipped to attack enemy troop concentrations to the East of the Weser with tactical nuclear weapons.
  To fulfill its mission RAFG had a varied mix of aircraft under its command: Phantom FGR.2 fighters, Tornado GR.1 fighter-bombers, helicopters, and Harrier GR.5 vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) jet aircraft. As the most forward deployed units the Harriers would have dispersed to auxiliary airfields and highway strips during the transition to war to protect them from Soviet air attacks. The Army's 38th Engineer Regiment and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment's No. 2624 (County of Oxford) Field Squadron would have supported the Harrier Force at these airfields.
  Royal Air Force Germany, RAF Rheindahlen, doubles as commander of NATO's Second Allied Tactical Air Force
  RAF Germany Photographic Reproduction Unit, RAF Rheindahlen
  RAF Bruggen
  No. 9 Squadron, (Tornado GR.1)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  No. 14 Squadron, (Tornado GR.1)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  No. 17 Squadron, (Tornado GR.1)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  No. 31 Squadron, (Tornado GR.1)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  No. 37 Squadron RAF Regiment, (Air Defence, Rapier launch stations)
  No. 51 Squadron RAF Regiment, (Light Armour, Spartan, Scorpion)
  No. 11 Signals Unit
  No. 431 Maintenance Unit RAF, (Airframe repair)
  No. 431 Maintenance Unit Detachment, RAF Laarbruch
  RAF Gütersloh
  No. 3 Squadron, (Harrier GR.5)
  No. 4 Squadron, (Harrier GR.5)
  No. 18 Squadron, (CH-47 Chinook HC.1, supporting British Army of the Rhine)
  No. 230 Squadron, (Puma HC.1, supporting British Army of the Rhine)
  No. 63 Squadron RAF Regiment, (Air Defence, Rapier launch stations)
  RAF Laarbruch
  No. 2 Squadron, (Reconnaissance, Jaguar GR.1A/T.2A, being replaced with Tornado GR.1A from January 1989)
  No. 15 Squadron, (Tornado GR.1)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  No. 16 Squadron, (Tornado GR.1)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  No. 20 Squadron, (Tornado GR.1)ⁿᵒᵗᵉ ¹
  No. 1 Squadron RAF Regiment, (Light Armour, Spartan, Scorpion)
  No. 26 Squadron RAF Regiment, (Air Defence, Rapier launch stations)
  RAF Wildenrath
  No. 19 Squadron, (Phantom FGR.2)
  No. 92 Squadron, (Phantom FGR.2)
  No. 60 Squadron, (Transport, Andover CC.2, Pembroke C.1)
  No. 16 Squadron RAF Regiment, (Air Defence, Rapier launch stations)
  No. 54 Signals Unit, Celle, (co-located with 14th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare), Royal Signals)
  No. 735 Signals Unit, Borgholzhausen
  Note 1: Unit with nuclear strike role with 18x WE.177 tactical nuclear weapons.
caption: Royal Air Force Germany air bases in 1989 (all located in North Rhine-Westphalia)
  Steel pog.svg RAF Germany HQ Blue 0080ff pog.svg Tornado GR.1
  Blue pog.svg Harrier GR.5 Blue 00ffff pog.svg Phantom FGR.2
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