On 15 May 2024 the transition of the UK armed forces’ Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) into the Joint Aviation Command (JAC), was marked by a visit by General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff, to Larkhill Camp, where he met with tri-service member of the new command.
The new JAC structure adds the British Army’s uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) to the battlefield helicopters of the Royal Navy, Army Air Corps and Royal Air Force.
Larkhill is the headquarters of 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery, which is joining the new command as the operator of the British Army’s mini-UASs such as the AeroVironment Puma.
The commander of the JAC’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Group (UASG), Colonel Richard Ball, stated in an interview with Forces News, “One of the principal drivers behind it has been the proliferation of uncrewed systems,” Col Ball explained. “We’ve seen that both from the UK, and of course it’s all about the lessons from what we’re seeing in Ukraine.
“I think the most exciting bit about the Joint Aviation Command and the formation of the UAS Group is the relationship between crewed and uncrewed platforms,” Col Ball added, “so as we build to FOC [full operational capability] and beyond, you’re likely to see greater collaboration, greater teaming, and moving to air-launched effects.
“We know that the technology is changing at a rapid rate,” said Col Ball, “so the types of capabilities, the types of technologies, that we’re operating now invariably in 12 to 18 months will be fundamentally different. That will give the army – and Field Army in particular – increased lethality, survivability and, of course, that modernisation that we’re desperate to achieve.”
Plans to transform the JHC, which had brought together rotary-wing elements from the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force under one command since October 1999, were announced in June 2023.
