The Gulf War was the first large-scale war in the post-Soviet period. It became a testing ground for new weapon systems developed during the cold war. But Great Britain widely participated in the conflict first of all to secure its military and political leadership in Europe. The article outlines the role of the RAF in carrying out the interests of Great Britain in the Middle East. The British military contingent in the Gulf was the largest and the most powerful one after the American contingent allotted to the Multinational forces. The active participation of the British Armed Forces in those events laid down the foundations of Britain’s leadership in the European sector of NATO during the decades to come and resulted in the emerging of the idea of a “global Britain”