Defence cuts will have an effect on UK’s potential to struggle from the air – properly into the 2030s, MPs warn

Defence cuts have left a niche within the UK’s potential to struggle from the air that can final properly into the 2030s, a bunch of MPs has warned, calling the weak point “unacceptable”.

The defence choose committee used a brand new report to induce the Ministry of Defence to reverse a cost-cutting choice to shrink the dimensions of an order of surveillance plane to 3 planes as an alternative of 5, condemning the discount within the E-7A Wedgetail fleet as “irrational”.

The MPs additionally closely criticised the early retirement of a extremely succesful army transport aircraft – once more to cut back prices – saying that the transfer left the UK’s particular forces uncovered due to the distinctive capabilities the C-130J airframe had been in a position to present.

These capabilities, resembling launching a ship out of the again over sea, are one thing a substitute fleet of A400M planes is rising – however this has not but been achieved. Sky News reported grave concerns about the axing of the C130 fleet earlier this year.

In addition, the committee slammed RAF chiefs over persistent failures within the UK’s flying coaching system – as also reported, repeatedly by Sky News. Delays on programs imply trainee pilots have been left on maintain for months, generally years, ready for slots to confide in progress via their coaching.

“With the prospect of UK involvement in a major war on the European continent closer than it has been for decades, there are serious questions as to whether the UK’s reduced combat air fleet still provides a sufficient deterrent and whether its limited numbers of admittedly highly capable aircraft could overcome a peer adversary in a warfighting context,” the MPs stated of their report revealed on Sunday.

“These questions arise not only in the context of the UK’s sovereign capability, but also in relation to its contribution to any wider alliance.

“The RAF’s combat aircraft fleet now provides a boutique high capability: it lacks numerical depth and has an inadequate attrition reserve. Exquisite capability has its place, but in a peer-on-peer conflict such as a shooting war with Russia, every airframe will count.”

The committee famous that the variety of UK fight plane was already a lot diminished.

A desk confirmed that the variety of fighter plane within the RAF had dropped by nearly two-thirds over the previous three many years, down to simply 159 airframes this yr, in contrast with 463 in 1990. These numbers exclude these planes in retailer.

A 2021 defence assessment imposed additional cuts to the RAF, together with the choice to ditch the C-130 transport fleet, seven years early regardless of its utility.

“The Defence Command Paper cuts will create a combat air capability gap which, on current plans, will persist well into the 2030s. This is unacceptable,” the report stated.

“The MoD and RAF must consider as a matter of urgency how they can increase combat air mass in the short term.”

Tobias Ellwood, chair of the defence choose committee, added in a press release: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine signalled the beginning of a darker and more dangerous era for Europe. Despite this, the Ministry of Defence has failed to reverse any of its 2021 cuts to our aviation capabilities. If the Ministry of Defence refuses to see the writing on the wall and fails to make adequate investment, there are turbulent times ahead.”

A spokesperson for the MoD stated: “The RAF remains a world leading defence force and has the necessary capabilities to fulfil NATO and UK commitments … The RAF is also spearheading transformation by investing in cutting-edge technology and modern aircraft necessary to fly and fight effectively while also rapidly addressing known challenges, such as the flying training pipeline.”