Royal Air Force modernisation and training experience a plunge
The RAF has lost out in the IR. (Photo: UK Crown Copyright)
Along with the British Army, the Royal Air Force has lost out on the Integrated Review and the UK MoD has taken risky bets. It is in need of an honest review and ministers should accept that wrong assumptions were made.
‘We will radically overhaul how we are organised and how we approach our people, our training, our bases, and the aircraft and equipment we operate. This will enable the RAF to be amongst the most technologically pioneering, productive and lethal air forces in the world for its size,’ the RAF proclaimed with aplomb as the UK published its Integrated Review (IR) in the spring of 2021.
Some 18 months later, it does not appear that the RAF has managed to rectify its equipment issues, let alone its pilot shortage and training challenges.
Putting the fact aside that the RAF –
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