Commander Air Force's mid-rank officers' ranks are modelled on those of the Royal Navy, the term wing commander is used as a rank, and this is the equivalent of a lieutenant colonel in the army or a commander in the navy. The rank of wing commander is above that of squadron leader and below that of group captain. In the former Royal Naval Air Service, which was merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force in 1918, the pilots held appointments as well as their normal ranks in the Royal Navy, and they wore insignia appropriate to
Structure of the Royal Air Force in 1989 air defence missile squadron. In 1989 the Royal Air Force was speedily replacing its aging Phantom fighters with the more modern and more capable Tornado F3, whose superior supersonic acceleration, powerful radar and beyond-visual-range missiles made it the ideal platform to intercept and destroy Soviet bombers attacking the UK. In case of war, No. 11 (Air Defence) Group would have taken command of the five UK-based Hawk T.1 training squadrons, which, armed with AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles would have become the last line of defense against Soviet air attacks. No. 18 (Maritime) Group was commanded by an Air Marshal based at