Modern military aircraft employ weapon bays for carriage and release of stores. The clearance of these stores for release from aircraft may require several flight tests at a range of conditions where the trajectories of released stores are obtained through accelerometers located on the store. Although effective, this is expensive and time consuming and only limited flight tests can be accomplished at critical conditions. Predictions made using store release analysis through wind tunnels and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) have the potential to reduce the number of flight tests required for store clearance. The motivation for the current work, stems from the need to investigate carriage and release of a store from a weapon bay, idealised as a rectangular cavity, through a unique blend of disciplines comprising Computational Fluid Dynamics, Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD), Computational Aero- Aeroacoustics (CAA) and High Performance Computing (HPC). Detached-Eddy Simulations (DES) of flow in clean cavities were carried out to compare two cavities of different aspect ratios for configurations with doors-off and doors-on. Both cavities had similar acoustic signatures and the addition of doors channelled the flow causing acoustic waves to propagate further away from the cavity. DES computations were carried out for a store at different positions relative to a cavity that showed that a store at carriage position pacified the cavity acoustics the most. Fin tip displacements were small for a store at carriage position and exhibited buzzing characteristics. This was similar to the case where a store was positioned at the shear layer of a cavity but with slightly larger displacements. While fin displacements were not large, the results highlighted concerns for fin fatigue life. Comparisons between rigid and elastic fins showed small differences in loads, however, aeroelastic simulations showed that where resonance of structural and cavity modes occurred, large amplitude fin oscillations were predicted. Scale-Adaptive Simulations (SAS) were validated against experimental data for clean cavities and were found to be similar to DES results and could be run at a larger time-step. The cost savings and similarities of SAS to DES encouraged its use for store release computations. Store release computations from a cavity were conducted and the variability of a stores trajectory due to the unsteady cavity flow-field was investigated. Visualisations using Q-criteria highlighted instantaneous structures that were in contact with the store fins causing the trajectory to vary for different release times. Overall, the thesis suggests the use of SAS as an affordable method for analysing store release computations from a cavity and highlights the need for a stochastic evaluation of trajectories from transonic cavities. A study comparing different signal lengths for post-processing unsteady pressure data revealed that, the minimum CFD signal length required to capture all dominant tones was around 0.05s. Different post-processing methods for spectral content were compared and the use of Maximum Entropy Methods (MEMs), based on Burgs Estimator, was suggested as it not only captured dominant tones but also predicted the highest Sound Pressure Levels (SPLs), that could be used to produce the maximum boundary of a given signal.

Despite their economic, political and cultural similarities, Portugal and Spain experienced different trajectories of civil-military relations during the twentieth century. After having handed power over to a civilian dictator, Salazar, the Portuguese military eventually caused the downfall of his authoritarian Estado Novo regime and led the transition to democracy. In contrast, in Spain the military, which had helped Franco to defeat the Republic in 1939 remained loyal to the dictatorship’s principles and, after his death, obstructed the democratisation process. This research sheds light on these different patterns by comparing the policy instruments that governments used to control the military throughout Portuguese and Spanish dictatorships and transitions to democracy. First, it applies Christopher Hood’s (1983) ‘NATO’ (nodality, authority, treasure and organisation) framework for the study of tools of government in order to identify trajectories and establish comparisons across time and countries. These tools can be considered as the institutions that structure the relationship between the governments and the military. This thesis documents that the tools used in both counties differed considerably and evolved over time and that only from 1982 onwards a process of convergence can be observed. Second, this thesis contrasts two types of neo-institutional explanations for the evolution of tool choice and civil-military relations. One based on historical junctures and path-dependence (historical causes) and the other on the continuous impact of environmental factors (constant causes). is research demonstrates that both approaches are largely intertwined and to a great extent become complementary and necessary to capture complexity in tool choice. In sum, this thesis shows that dialogue and exchange between different analytical approaches contributes to a deeper understanding of multifaceted social phenomena. The utilisation of public policy analytical frameworks, such as the NATO scheme and neoinstitutionalism, provides a new angle on the evolution of civil-military relations in Portugal and Spain.

The primary aim of this thesis was to develop more acceptable methods of ballistic neck protection that could replace the existing OSPREY ballistic neck collar. Clinical and post mortem injury analysis, computed tomography interpretation and ergonomics assessments were undertaken, resulting in the recommendation of two prototype designs to the Ministry of Defence. These two prototypes have subsequently been renamed the Enhanced Protection Under Body Armour Combat Shirt and the Patrol collar, and are now issued to all UK armed forces personnel deploying on operations overseas. The secondary aim of this thesis was to develop methods to validate the potential medical effectiveness of future body armour designs. Two new novel injury models have been developed using an anthropometrically accurate three- dimensional representation of cervical anatomical structures. Penetration of representative fragment simulating projectiles through skin and muscle was determined experimentally using physical and animal simulants. The Coverage of Armour Tool is being used in the current Ministry of Defence VIRTUS procurement programme to rule out future body armour designs on medical grounds, thereby greatly reducing the number of prototypes requiring ergonomics assessment.

This thesis examines the impact of the developments made during the First World War and the inter-war period in tactical air support. Further to this, it will analyse how these developments led to the creation of Army Co-operation Command and affected the role it played developing army air support in Britain. Army Co-operation Command has been neglected in the literature on the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and this thesis addresses this neglect by adding to the extant knowledge on the development of tactical air support and fills a larger gap that exists in the literature on Royal Air Force Commands. Army Co-operation Command was created at the behest of the army in the wake of the Battle of France. A key area of development was the communications system to enable troops to request air support in the field. The Command was also involved in developing the Air Observation Post Squadron. Air Observation Post aircraft were used to direct the fire of artillery batteries from the air. In 1943, an operational tactical air force replaced Army Co-operation Command. This study highlights inter-service difficulties over the provision of air support.

This work examines tissue oxygenation (StO2), as measured by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), as tool for assessing trauma patients, with particular emphasis on its use in the deployed military environment. Resting StO2 values were examined and found to vary significantly between monitoring sites. Exercise was associated with a significant increase in StO2. Comparing the sensitivities of different NIRS monitoring sites in detecting simulated hypovolaemia, the forearm and deltoid were found be the most sensitive sites. The thenar eminence and brain were not sensitive to mild degrees of hypovolaemia. The administration of morphine was found to attenuate the StO2 response to hypovolaemia at all sites. In a porcine trauma model changes in StO2 recorded from both injured and uninjured muscle sites phase led those of base excess and lactate by 31–37 minutes, and demonstrate that injured monitoring sites can be used to accurately track patients’ response to resuscitation. In the deployed military setting NIRS was found to be a robust, easy to use technique for the initial assessment of patients. Although StO2 was not demonstrable superior to a combination of pulse rate and blood pressure it has several practical advantages that make it a useful adjunct to contemporary trauma care.

The development of the British air weapon on the Western Front during the First World War represented a revolution in the way that national resources were employed in exploiting a technological opportunity to achieve tactical and operational advantage. Logistic competence was the precondition for air superiority and the 'modern style of warfare' — indirect, predicted artillery fire. The Royal Flying Corps' logistic staffs, led by Brigadier-General Robert Brooke-Popham, demonstrated considerable agility in meeting the demands of three-dimensional warfare. Sustaining adequate numbers of front-line aircraft required substantial numbers of skilled and semi-skilled personnel, located largely beyond the battle zone, operating at a continuously high tempo while coping with rapid technological change and high wastage. These elements formed a complex, dynamic and integrated network that was also partly self-sustaining, in the form of salvage and repair, with the ability to compensate for shortfalls in aircraft and aero-engine production as well as unpredictable demand. The logistic principles developed on the Western Front provided the foundation for Royal Air Force success in the Second World War and anticipated the management practices that underpin today's global supply chain - as well as demonstrating the enduring interdependence of logistics and air power.

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Scientific narratives are pervasive in international policy, in part, due to the increasing degree to which technological considerations enter modern thinking. These narratives are particularly visible in the chemical weapon prevention regime, which must accommodate changes in science and technology to ensure that they do not result in the application of new utilities for toxic chemicals as weapons. The dissertation investigates the function of technical experts, and the perceptions of their role, in the procedures of the chemical weapon prevention regime that address technical change. It explores expert involvement in three elements of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC): its negotiation; the Scientific Advisory Board; and in national policy formulation. Ethnography – from an extended placement within the Convention's monitoring body, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) – as well as interviews and documentary sources provide the methodological basis for the research. The dissertation finds that science is often made political within the international policy setting, and shows how science is employed to support political aims whether it is in accelerating or slowing policy formulation, or in deflecting the policy agenda. It argues that whilst the role of experts and their capacity to influence policy vary with the forums in which they are placed, their effectiveness depends also upon other factors, including institutional support. The dissertation also holds that national approaches to expert advice are reflected in state relationships with experts advising at the international level. The research supports much of the Science and Technology Studies (STS) literature on experts in national settings and has substantial implications for a concept popular in International Relations (IR) literature, namely, ‘epistemic communities'. A case for reframing ‘epistemic communities' is developed which incorporates notions drawn from STS, such as the important role of ‘boundary organisations'. These are applied to the CWC, and policy recommendations for the OPCW and its member states are presented.

This thesis explains the evolution of US ballistic missile defence (BMD) policy between 1989 and 2010, by moving beyond the political rhetoric and intellectual obfuscation that surrounds the policy in the literature. By developing an explanatory framework to rigorously and systematically analyse the impact of different dynamics on policy, it explains the rhythms of day-to-day policy in particular context; explains the medium term shifts in the domestic political space within which day-to-day policy debate occurred, and explains the long term move towards acceptance and the gradual normalisation of BMD in American security policy. The primary argument of the thesis is that the particular configuration of domestic political institutions and party political pressures at any given time has been far more important in shaping BMD policy during each presidential administration since the end of the Cold War than has previously been acknowledged. Secondly, it argues that developments in the international system and technology have gradually altered the context within which this domestic political debate has occurred. Finally, it shows that domestic political influences, and the gradual shift in the contours of the domestic debate are the key reasons why BMD has gone from being one of the most divisive, zero-sum political issues in American national security thinking, to something that has largely become normalised, with debate now only occurring at the margins.