UK MoD awards Ascent with eight-year contract to upgrade RAF and Royal Navy flight training
The RAF took delivery of its final Poseidon P-8A aircraft in 2022. (Photo: Crown Copyright)
Funding of £300 million will go towards training personnel on the FIRCTS programmes to meet a growing demand for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) platforms.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed an eight-year £300 million (US$401 million) contract with Ascent Flight Training to modernise flight training for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN) rear crew personnel.
The contract is part of the Future Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) and Rear Crew Training System (FIRCST) programme. Ascent, a joint venture between Babcock and Lockheed Martin, is responsible for delivering the UK Military Flight Training System (MFTS) alongside the MoD.
Ascent first explored and opened up the competition for the new synthetic training system in 2022.
Captain Polly Hatchard, UKMFTS
Already have an account? Log in
Want to keep reading this article?
You may also like
More from Air Warfare
-
![AFA 2025: CUAS solutions demonstrate modularity and portability focus]()
AFA 2025: CUAS solutions demonstrate modularity and portability focus
Aerovironment, Epirus and SNC displayed their counter-uncrewed aerial systems, with both non-kinetic and kinetic options for military services.
-
![Should the Ukrainian model for UAS technology development be copied?]()
Should the Ukrainian model for UAS technology development be copied?
The country’s industrial defence transformation since 2022 has ramped up rapidly, offering Europe and NATO lessons in agility, innovation and rapid procurement. But how easily can, or should, such wartime innovation be copied?
-
![MBDA signs Italian Navy Teseo Mk/E missile production contract, unveils HARPAX loitering munitions]()
MBDA signs Italian Navy Teseo Mk/E missile production contract, unveils HARPAX loitering munitions
The Mk/E missile will equip Italy’s FREMM EVO class frigates while MBDA’s Italian arm unveiled two of its new family of loitering munitions to respond to the needs of the Italian Army.
-
![What could the realignment of China, Russia, India and Pakistan mean for defence aerospace markets?]()
What could the realignment of China, Russia, India and Pakistan mean for defence aerospace markets?
As traditional Western alliances crumble and the wider strategic and economic background shifts, what does the realignment of relationships between these four countries mean for air power and the defence aerospace market?
-
![L3Harris selected for South Korea’s airborne early warning programme]()
L3Harris selected for South Korea’s airborne early warning programme
L3Harris’ offer of its “Phoenix” aircraft won over Saab’s GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft for the second phase of South Korea’s early warning requirement.
-
![US Army awards nearly $6 billion in contracts for CUAS interceptors and UAS systems]()
US Army awards nearly $6 billion in contracts for CUAS interceptors and UAS systems
A contract of $5 billion was awarded to Raytheon by the US Army, while a $982 million contract award for uncrewed systems was scooped to Mistral Group.
