Research

PhD

Acquisition in the Royal Air Force: A Study in British Grand Strategy (provisional) – supervised by Prof. John Gearson and Dr David Jordan.

Journal Articles

Dawson, Arun, and Aleix Nadal. "Concept to Combat: The Royal Air Force, Small Drones and the War in Ukraine," European Review of International Studies 11, 3 (2025): 321-357

A defining feature of the Russia-Ukraine War (2022-) has been the extensive use of small uncrewed aerial systems (sUAS) - a subset of 'drones.' This paper explains the continuities and changes in the RAF’s approach to sUAS pre- and post-2022. Based on interviews with senior commanders and officials, the paper argues that efforts to prioritise sUAS in light of lessons from Ukraine and earlier has been fraught with organisational and cultural challenges. Conceptually, this case study interrogates what a military innovation looks like in practice.

Policy Reports

Dawson, Arun. Higher Level Airspace: An International Analysis of Current Trends and Strategic Drivers (North Atlantic Treaty Organization: 2023)

In recent years much has been written of high-altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS), super/hypersonic aircraft and missiles, and spacecraft (driven by tourism and the "new space age"). All transit the upper reaches of the atmosphere, in a stratum once considered the preserve of the military. This paper is a global, strategic analysis of attitudes towards high level (>FL600) airspace to inform policymaking on stratospheric operations. I discussed the main findings of the report on the BBC in the wake of the Chinese Balloon Incident.

Dawson, Arun. "Cold Comfort: The Challenges Facing the RAF's Return to the Arctic," Freeman Paper 12 (2022)

A year after the British government’s Integrated Review and its proclaimed ‘Indo-Pacific Tilt’, the events presently unfolding in Ukraine underscore the fragility of the Euro-Atlantic and the imperative to focus on a 360° view of defence. Within this context, Britain’s 2022 publication of its inaugural Defence Arctic Strategy is an opportune moment to reflect on the United Kingdom’s contribution to the defence of Europe’s Northern Flank. This paper assesses whether the Royal Air Force is fit for that task and, where appropriate, suggests how defence planners might rectify deficiencies in air and space power within what appears to be a rapidly closing timeframe. For a brief overview, watch this.

Dawson, Arun. "Developments in the Pipeline: The Green Energy Transition and USA Futures," for Global Strategic Trends 7 (2021)

An internal contribution to the Defence Futures (formerly the Ministry of Defence's Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre) Global Strategic Trends Report (7th Edition), this paper identifies and analyses key factors which may shape the USA’s decarbonisation pathway – and in some respects its overall makeup – over the decades to 2055. It is primarily concerned with how electrification and the growing role of renewables within power generation (“the green transition”) might intersect with environmental, economic and societal drivers to precipitate radically different futures from linear forecasts.

Commentary

Dawson, Arun. "AI-controlled fighter jets may be closer than we think - and would change the face of warfare," The Conversation, 17 April 2025.

Dawson, Arun. "The case for RAF Arctic and High North readiness," FASI Viewpoint, King's College London, 23 February 2023.

Research Assistance

Jamie Gaskarth, Maeve Ryan and William Reynolds. Understanding UK Strategic Defence Reviews since 1998: Planning, Implementing and Learning from Outcomes (forthcoming)

A project examining all major UK defence reviews from 1998 to the present. The aim is to identify lessons for the government's 2024-5 Strategic Defence Review led by Lord Robertson of Port Ellen.

Paul Kennedy. Victory at Sea: Naval Power and the Transformation of the Global Order in WWII (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2022)

The best-selling author's illustrated history (in collaboration with the late watercolourist Ian Marshall) is a sweeping study of the inexorable shift towards American hegemony in that critical year of 1943, seen through the lens of maritime conflict. Reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post. One of six shortlisted for RUSI's Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History. 

John Gearson. Operation Banner: A Primer Account of the British Military’s Deployment to Northern Ireland, 1969-2007 (London: Centre for Defence Studies, 2022) 

A background study commissioned by Operation Kenova, the £37 million criminal investigation into allegations of state complicity in murder, kidnap and torture during The Troubles through Agent STAKEKNIFE. Kenova's interim report gained widespread media coverage, including as breaking news on the BBC. 


For a full list, including works in progress, please contact me.