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I have some ideas in mind during my fanfiction and I have another problem with fluff, I hope to get some help.

Is Imperial Air force ( Fighter Wings, Fighter Squadrons etc... ) independent organization or are they part of Imperial Navy?

Part of the Imperial Navy, though it is not unknown for PDF's to have some air units of their own.

There is no Imperial Air Force. With the exception of a few IG regiments and PDF regiments, all air assets are part of the Imperial Navy to ensure that no Imperial Guard regiment that turns against the High Lords can move from planet to planet without also having to subvert a portion of the Imperial Navy.

Some IG Regiments operate fighters as aerial specialists, they're more or less de facto air force units. These units are rare however and as a rule the Navy operates all air stuff.

I see, thank you for your answers.
So in short, all Imperial Air Force counts as part of Imperial Navy except for those who are with PDF.

There is no Imperial Air Force. There are aircraft formations that are part of the Imperial Navy, aircraft that integrated into a small number of Imperial Guard regiments at the platoon and squad level, and aircraft that are part of PDF units on the same scale as the IG.

 BrookM wrote:
Part of the Imperial Navy, though it is not unknown for PDF's to have some air units of their own.

Phantine!

Imperial air assets are part of the Imperial Navy, there is no.such thing as the Imperial Air Force. Some Gaurd/PDF units have their own limited air capabilities, such as the Phantine Air Corps which is almost entirely aircraft based, these are extremely rare (the Phantine are stated to be the only Guard unit of its kind in the Imperium, though later fluff has kind of made that seemingly untrue). Its important to note that the Imperial Navy does not play nicely with these units, they are regarded as inferior pilots and treated as such.

Local PDF's possess their own air assets for atmospheric defense and suchlike, however the Imperial Navy projects imperial air power in war zones. Its like comparing the a small nations squadron of fighters with the entire USAF

Just one more question: all aircraft in the Imperial Navy are formed into fighter wings?
For example 303'rd Imperial Navy Fighter Wing.

I imagine they would be formed as our current formations are formed.
Wing, squadron, flight. With flight being the smallest and wing being the largest.

Per forge world:

"All Imperial air forces come under the direct command of the Imperial Navy and not the Imperial Guard."

PDF isn't even mentioned. Given that in several sources it's stated that PDF units don't even have proper communications gear I'd bet that you'd be hard pressed to find a PDF group with access to a fighter.


Regarding any type of formations, you might want to get a copy of the Imperial Armor Aeronautica book.

Screen shots from it do seem to reference squadrons, so my guess is like purplefood's in that they follow our current formations.

And yet you have the Imperial Guard Codex which makes it clear that air assets are sometimes under the guard

clively wrote:

PDF isn't even mentioned. Given that in several sources it's stated that PDF units don't even have proper communications gear I'd bet that you'd be hard pressed to find a PDF group with access to a fighter.

Double Eagle features a PDF with a (mediocre) air force.

clively wrote:
Per forge world:

"All Imperial air forces come under the direct command of the Imperial Navy and not the Imperial Guard."

PDF isn't even mentioned. Given that in several sources it's stated that PDF units don't even have proper communications gear I'd bet that you'd be hard pressed to find a PDF group with access to a fighter.

I'd be shocked if the PDFs of industrialised planets didn't have aircraft, possibly sub-Imperial Navy standard but as long as they can't project into space, its seems an unnecessary handicap. That's ignoring civilian/unarmed government use of flying machines which as our world has proven can be very useful. Also PDFs are the first line of defence for many worlds facing xeno invasion, having no air force would effectively doom them. Then there's the value in putting down regional uprisings, the ones we never hear about because they're far too insignificant to the Imperium as a whole. Take the RAF's use as colonial police post-WWI. A rebellion in Somalia in 1920 was deemed to require a huge investment to support the thousands of troops necessary to put down the rebels. The RAF offered to do it for a fraction of the price and in a fraction of the time, by basically terror bombing the rebel's villages and forces, with only a few armoured cars to help coordinate the attack. It worked very well and that was with a few squadrons of biplanes. To imagine an industrialised world in the Imperium couldn't produce such forces is ridiculous in my opinion, canon or not.

Actually I'll correct myself, as long as PDFs can't project into the warp, its an unnecessary handicap. Many worlds are part of systems of several inhabited bodies. Say Genericus Primus has a mining outpost on Genericus Tertius, which is connected almost certainly by space ships if not domestically built then certainly domestically run. If they are capable of dealing with space travel, and given fear of pirates etc. even if just a stellar merchant navy, they'll certainly be armed. No challenge to the Imperial Navy but enough to cope with minor threats. If nothing else, I doubt the Navy would be keen on dealing with every rogue who strapped a gun to the side of their astral jalopy when a small armed transport under the command of the Planetary Governor could easily handle it.

The strict division of the Imperium's armed forces, splitting land and space forces, limiting the size of Space Marine chapters etc. was done to prevent what the leaders of Terra down to Sector command would deem a major threat. There is no reason to hinder the PDFs as any rebellion limited to a single planet could be dealt with at leisure and in much the same way the RAF acted in Somalia.

chaos0xomega wrote:
And yet you have the Imperial Guard Codex which makes it clear that air assets are sometimes under the guard

The Phantine Air Corps is the exception to the rule and, fluff-wise, pay a very high price for it. Further.... they originate from a Black Library novel, which are free to break whatever rules they want, really.

 CuddlySquig wrote:

clively wrote:

PDF isn't even mentioned. Given that in several sources it's stated that PDF units don't even have proper communications gear I'd bet that you'd be hard pressed to find a PDF group with access to a fighter.

Double Eagle features a PDF with a (mediocre) air force.

In fairness they are flying regular jets against vector capable aircraft.
Slightly uneven...

There was a dan abnett book that talked about it. Really good book imho. There are PDF forces that apparently employ "wolfcubs" and then the navy lightning, maurader and thunderbolt squadrons.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
oops, you guys already covered it. My bad.

They're under the Imperial Navy. That's a reason defense lasers, missile silos, and air bases count as low orbit defenses in the BFG rulebook.

As vast and varied as the space under the control of the Imperium is I expect there is only one golden rule.

No warpdrives.

After that it probably varies as to what PDF goverments have available. From nothing to armed spacecraft. In my Rogue Trader fanfic I have one planet being given a Writ of Arms which extends the right to develope more advanced tech but stops well short of warp capable spacecraft.

Well in BFG we do have ships called 'System Defence Monitors' I think. Essentially its a systems 'Gunboat' to defend its system and trade lanes etc

 Eetion wrote:
Well in BFG we do have ships called 'System Defence Monitors' I think. Essentially its a systems 'Gunboat' to defend its system and trade lanes etc

Defense Monitors are operated by Imperial Navy crews. System Ships are basically civilian vessels refitted to be cannon fodder.

Apologies. I misremembered it seems. Thought they were under the planets jurisdiction.

 Eetion wrote:
Apologies. I misremembered it seems. Thought they were under the planets jurisdiction.

Considering that the Imperial Navy has a similar hierarchy to the Imperial Guard, and going by SDF (System Defense Force) mentioned in the Cain novel about the Second Siege of Perlia, I'd say that just as PDF are under overall Guard command, the SDF is under overall Navy command.

Well in that case in a conflict that would be true.

The PDF isn't nominally under the command of the Guard on a day to day basis, but officers of the home planet and presumably the planetary governor.

I would assume an SDF to be the same in that case, commanded and crewed by officers and ratings of the home planet acting upon direction of the planetary governor, but ultimately subservient to the navy.