The average cost of training a Royal Air Force pilot ranges from £953,817 for multi-engine aircraft to £5,362,085 for fast jets.
A recent statement from the Ministry of Defence has put a number on the financial investment needed to train Royal Air Force pilots.
In response to a parliamentary written question by Nick Smith, Labour MP for Blaenau Gwent, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Leo Docherty, unveiled the average costs of training RAF pilots in the fiscal year 2021-22.
Docherty revealed, “The average cost of flying training per trainee in the RAF varies according to specialisation:
- RAF Fast Jet: £5,362,085
- RAF Multi Engine: £953,817
- RAF Rotary Wing: £1,041,845″
These figures encompass a range of expenses, including salaries, support costs, and expenditures within the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) contract, up until trainee pilots commence training on frontline aircraft as part of Operational Conversion Units.
I think these figures do not apply to a squadron leader. A squadron leader need to fly many more hours on a fighter plane to be combat ready and take his squadron to the war. UK is in a nightmare. We all saw it coming from a long time ago: eurofighter cost per 1 hours is already very high (30k€) around 50% more expensive than Rafale. F35, with about 50K€ per hour, despite all communication elements, provide the impossible equation. I think UK should make a light fighter to at least maintain and develop competencies. In France, we still have the Mirage, with 5K€ per hour to maintain a larger pool of pilotes, but there is a slot for a common light fighter/ trainer for UK and France. I hope politiciàns from your country and mine will be able to seize this opportunity.
The figures are for a new recruit, not a squadron leader with years of experience and continued training over that period.
Thanks!
Yes, a new recruit may eventually become a Squadron leader in future, after years of flying experience.
There is a grain of truth to that.
The rational for not having g more pilots is keeping them current.
The rational for the number of planes and flying hours is cost per flying hour which is crazy. I struggle to believe that Rafale really is £5k/hr as that feels too cheap for a jet..
The trouble is the costs of running another type.
Then set that against wartime when you would generate sorties regardless of cost and the answer would be – pilots are exhausted…..so we need more pilots.
What is the solution? There has to be one!!
Mirage 2000 is around 5K€/hour, Rafale exact figure are not disclosed, but are around 20k€.
I believe that Polish have solved it fair square with the Golden Eagle. We had potent numbers of alphajet and you had Hawk that were fine. It is time to replace them. Mirage are to be replaced as well. So room for a single engine light fighter / trainer does exist. It can be done and is very important. UK and France have nothing to loose doing it together. And the potentiel for France is about 100 machines, so… market is available, engine can be a reused one… avionics can be reused at least partially… if we are smart, this could be done very quickly.
Rafale is €14k per hour. This is a figure from french parliament website dating 10 years ago. To adjust for inflation closer to 20k per hour.
All RAF fast jet pilots are combat ready. The flying hours are the same regardless of rank. And your figures for cost per flying hours are incorrect.
Well, I don’t doubt that a RAF pilot would be combat ready. I would never underestimate our best allies. I don’t doubt the a young pilot or a squadron leader will receive the same amount of training per year. Though a young pilot may be able to take care of himself and his plane. A squadron leader need far more training, because he will have to bring the whole team to the fight and prevail. Cost per flying hours… Well, it is the one I get. M2K and Grippen are cheap (5 to 6K€ per hour) F16 is ok (10K€) Rafale is medium expensive (19K€) Eurofighter and F15 cost more (around 30K€), F35 is very expensive (above 50K€). I am not talking about capabilities, just costs about training pilots and having them at the best possible level.
In Medieval times, did knights trained with full plated armor? Most of the time not, they spared it for the real fight. That’s the idea.
Right. If a new pilot is selected for Typhoon, after training they then join 29sqn operational conversation unit at RAF Coningsby where they learn to fly and fight the Typhoon across ita full spectrumof capabilities. On completion of that course then join a frontline operational Typhoon sqn. After 12 months or less, the pilot is then declared as combat ready and can deploy on global frontline operational operations, the are added to the QRA rota, and deploy to the Falklands. That is how it works. All Typhoon pilots are combat ready.
That makes sense.
If a single-engine twin-seat transonic fighter were developed that had the same cockpit displays (not sensors) as F35 or Tempest, armed with ASRAAM and Brimstone/SPEAR, that would provide air patrol of low-level theatres and also combat air training, that would massively improve availability of peer-capable jets for operations that require full capabilities and also maintain a much larger group of up to date pilots.
Exactly… One lesson of Ukraine is that mass matters. A second lesson is that hours of training in the machine matter a lot. Availability matters, rough runway matters. I think a supersonic jet, light fighter and trainer would be great, especially given all sensors, missiles that have been created. May be it is just about drones and we can forget this pilots concept, but let say that once again. we would rely on unproven technology. A good cheap one is may be all we need. The Apex apex apex predator is so expensive that few can buy them fewer can fly them and even fewer can replace them. Something is wrong.
Sorry to spoil what was a reasonably optimistic discussion, but…
Aeralis?
A joint venture between the UK and France for a light fighter/trainer seems highly unlikely due to the difficulties of each country agreeing to equally share everything. There are always arguments because one country want to take the lead role. There are a number of examples where one of the two countries have pulled out of major military projects due to their unwillingness to take accept a secondary position in the project
I know it is not easy. Let’s say I have a dream. It has been possible to cooperate on many programs. And if France was to go to war with any foreign nation, UK would be the first allied we would speak with. Doing weapons we need together is just the next logical step. But as you mentioned, It is difficult.
Costs what it costs. Unless someone is suggesting we go back to Spitfires. That said it paves the way for drones – if you train one you have trained them all.
Where on earth… do they get these figures from? It really is ridiculous. Surely those costs must be due to outsourcing the training?
Maybe a bit of the cost comes from the fact it is outsourced due to some of it being for profit. But I wouldn’t say it’s ridiculous. A lot of that money if going to be on the servicing and fueling of the aircraft the pilots are trained on, as well as the paying of the trainee pilot during their training and also the pay of the instructors.
Yes and it there are quite a few pilots who have almost been left sitting on their hands because there has been insufficient training spots available for them to progress their training. This can sometimes be caused by the number of available training slots being filled by overseas pilots who are put on our courses as part of a huge arms sale package to a foreign country. This has resulted in a few of our pilots taking years to fully qualify rather than months. Lengthy delays inevitably leads to more costs.
I seem to remember figures from 20 years ago being around £5 million as well. I’m sure this shows the benefits of simulators keeping modern training cost down for fast jet pilots.
The role they do in protecting UK/NATO airspace, it’s a bargain, premiership footballers get sold for £100,000,000 and all they do is fall over by the slightest of movement towards their face.
Agree.Phil. A good example is Antony Martial at Man. Utd. The Club have paid him wages totaling £130 million plus over the last 9 years, Most of that time he has been unavailable to play due to sickness and injuries. When he has managed to pull on a club shirt his performances have been mediocre at best. By contrast the money spent on our pilots is well worth the end results. The skills plus physical and mental abilities required to perform in our fighter aircraft is remarkable.