Lunchtime Lecture: Lightning SEADs – The Royal Air Force and the Future Air Defence Suppression Mission
On Thursday 13 August 2026 at 12pm, Dr Thomas Withington will deal with the current and future threats the RAF and its NATO allies face. This lecture will be hosted virtually via Crowdcast and livestreamed from the RAF Museum's Midlands site.
Talk Outline
In 2013, the Royal Air Force (RAF) left the Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) business. That year, the service retired the last of its Air-Launched Anti-Radiation Missiles (ALARMs). Introduced during Operation Desert Storm, the weapon proved devastating to Iraqi air defence radar. ALARM continued to support subsequent RAF operations over the Balkans and Libya. However, the long years of counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan saw little need for SEAD. The enemy’s favourite means of destruction were improvised explosive devices rather than surface-to-air missiles. Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 changed this mindset. Great power rivalry was back on the agenda. The RAF now had to contemplate running the gauntlet of Russia’s advanced air defences during any future conflict. The service has risen admirably to the challenge. A host of new capabilities are in the offing which will help to overcome the weapons peer adversaries will use to protect their airspace. Some capabilities like the Typhoon’s ECRS Mk.2 radar and the AR3 StormShroud drone are already entering service. Both these systems can jam and spoof hostile radars. Others, like the SPEAR-EW jammer and Stratos-RS missile, the latter of which can perform anti-radar missions, could be in the inventory soon. This presentation will detail the current and future threats the RAF and its NATO allies face, and the capabilities the RAF will bring to the fore to fight through the world’s deadliest airspace should the need arise.
About Dr Thomas Withington
Dr. Thomas Withington is an award-winning analyst and writer specialising in electronic warfare, radar and military communications; a Research Associate at the Royal United Services Institute and a Senior Non-Resident Associate Fellow at the NATO Defence College. He has written widely on these subjects for a range of specialist and general publications. He also works as a consultant and adviser in these areas for several leading government and private sector clients. He regularly performs extensive field work in operational theatres in Ukraine, the Middle East and southern Mediterranean. Furthermore, Dr. Withington provides regular commentary on security and defence aspects of electromagnetic spectrum use for major media organisations around the world.
Ticket options
On Thursday 13 August 2026 at 12pm, Dr Thomas Withington will deal with the current and future threats the RAF and its NATO allies face. This lecture will be hosted virtually via Crowdcast and livestreamed from the RAF Museum's Midlands site.
Talk Outline
In 2013, the Royal Air Force (RAF) left the Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) business. That year, the service retired the last of its Air-Launched Anti-Radiation Missiles (ALARMs). Introduced during Operation Desert Storm, the weapon proved devastating to Iraqi air defence radar. ALARM continued to support subsequent RAF operations over the Balkans and Libya. However, the long years of counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan saw little need for SEAD. The enemy’s favourite means of destruction were improvised explosive devices rather than surface-to-air missiles. Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 changed this mindset. Great power rivalry was back on the agenda. The RAF now had to contemplate running the gauntlet of Russia’s advanced air defences during any future conflict. The service has risen admirably to the challenge. A host of new capabilities are in the offing which will help to overcome the weapons peer adversaries will use to protect their airspace. Some capabilities like the Typhoon’s ECRS Mk.2 radar and the AR3 StormShroud drone are already entering service. Both these systems can jam and spoof hostile radars. Others, like the SPEAR-EW jammer and Stratos-RS missile, the latter of which can perform anti-radar missions, could be in the inventory soon. This presentation will detail the current and future threats the RAF and its NATO allies face, and the capabilities the RAF will bring to the fore to fight through the world’s deadliest airspace should the need arise.
About Dr Thomas Withington
Dr. Thomas Withington is an award-winning analyst and writer specialising in electronic warfare, radar and military communications; a Research Associate at the Royal United Services Institute and a Senior Non-Resident Associate Fellow at the NATO Defence College. He has written widely on these subjects for a range of specialist and general publications. He also works as a consultant and adviser in these areas for several leading government and private sector clients. He regularly performs extensive field work in operational theatres in Ukraine, the Middle East and southern Mediterranean. Furthermore, Dr. Withington provides regular commentary on security and defence aspects of electromagnetic spectrum use for major media organisations around the world.
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