RAF squadrons will double to face Isis and Russian threat

[Dan_Brown]

RAF squadrons will double to face Isis and Russian threat

THE number of fast-jet squadrons is expected to double, amid fears that years of deep cuts have left the RAF too small to tackle the twin threats of Isis and Russian aggression.

Senior defence sources say the RAF’s senior commanders have made increasing the number of fighter and bomber squadrons from six to 12 a cornerstone of their submission to the government’s forthcoming strategic defence and security review.
The move would be embarrassing for the government, reversing the 2010 defence review which reduced the frontline RAF to its smallest size since the First World War.

Under the current review, due to be published in early December, both the RAF and navy will be allowed to expand. Sources say the navy is expected to be allowed to recruit 2,500 extra sailors for its two new aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines.

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article1609280.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2015_09_19

Interesting for SDSR!

 

[Barch]

I make it 5 Typhoon Squadrons & 3 Tornado Squadrons plus the OCUs so I can't understand where The Times has got 6 squadrons from ...

 

[FOMz]

So where are all this extra aircradft going to appear from then??

 

[busby1971]

I'm sure BAE will only bringing to happy to provide them.

 

[Barch]

So where are all this extra aircradft going to appear from then??

The article doesn't actually state the number of aircraft will increase only the number of squadrons.

It would be quite easy to share out the jets a bit thinner and job done with the politicos taking a bow for delivering at nigh on zero expense ...

 

[vim_fuego]

So where are all this extra aircradft going to appear from then??

And crews...and techies. FJ pilots take around 5 years with the present training system constraints. The ones in the system are planned for the size required now...not for a larger force.

I'm sure BAE will only bringing to happy to provide them.

Although this is true it's takes time to plan new orders into any manufacturing line and we build Typhoons and F35's in a partnership so not only BAE has to re-prioritise. Again I would say 18 months to two years.

 

[rest have risen above me]

Has any body got a DII friendly link from the OP please?

 

[E E E E E E E E AR]

Has any body got a DII friendly link from the OP please?

It opens fine in Chrome if you copy and paste it into there. Although the article is behind a paywall anyway!

 

[MontyPlumbs]

So where are all this extra aircradft going to appear from then??

Must admit, this was my first thought too.

 

[Mag2grid]

Must admit, this was my first thought too.

Mine was "Hello Barack....its me Dave, you know those Harriers we sold you...any chance we can lease them back?"

 

[ERT]

^Harriers, give it up...they are gone.

T1, T2 and T3 Typhoons

 

[mummymonkey]

Having finished my service by the end of the 80s it has brought me up rather short to learn we have only 6-8 squadrons of fast jets now. We used to have that many phantom squadrons!

 

[Kryten]

So where are all this extra aircradft going to appear from then??

I thought we were broke? I mean, we keep getting told that the Mother of All Budget Cuts is winging its way towards us, but we've just promised the Chinese we'll guarantee them something like £2bn if they help design and build our next generation of nuclear power stations, then we've got HS2, 800 billion refugees coming into the UK (slight exaggeration there) and worst of all, they have to rebuild Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament as they are both early examples of a Barratt Home and need to be repaired....

So, would it be safe to expect the words "these tax rises are necessary if we are to invest in our future" from Chancellor "Ozzy" Osbourne....?

 

[busby1971]

Forward looking manning figures, from a few months ago, for the RAF show quite an increase in people.

We've only underwritten the loan we haven't paid any money out, and now that the economy is recovering the Tax take is increasing so the combination of Austerity and encouraging growth seems to be kicking in.

Until of course the Chinese economy collapses later this year and it all goes to the wall again, after all recessions, or dips, do tend to come around every 7 years.

At least my mortgage will stay low for a bit longer.

Sent from my LG-H818 using Tapatalk

 

[Witty_Banter]

Absolute baldricks if you ask me. The planned uptake in manning would have been on the books for months, so nothing to do with this recent event. Probably due to the fact that they released too many during the last round of cuts... and you have to remember that those figures are for expected manpower, they don't take into account (or not properly at least) the overly sharp PVR rate that we currently have, and the lack of recruitment far below the expected numbers (for some reason, people don't want to join up under the NEM...)


The ISIL situation needs to be dealt with now, not in 5 to10 years time when they will have been able to train the manpower and buy more assets. I would imagine that there is a minor manning push because we are swiftly dropping below the promised SDSR figures, not becuase we've been given permission to boost our numbers.

 

[TG3 TILL I DIE!!!!]

It's the airships all getting caught up in the BoB moment. Think they can throw together a few fighters a week!

 

[Stevienics]

There is a gradient between what we should have now, and what we should have in 2020 according to SDSR

We are below the line of what we have now

We will recruit only in order to bring us back to the gradient, without going over it, and only if it looks like we will will end up under the 2020 target if we maintain this same track.

So endeth the lesson

 

[vim_fuego]

I guess all this and more will be revealed in Novembers SDSR...